About Us
Join us at Figtrees
We are living proof that it’s never too late to follow your dreams, take the plunge, the change of career and create the life you aways imagined you’d live.
We’ve moved from a busy seaside town on the south coast, not far from Brighton and London, to a rural, peaceful historic town in France.
Our adventure has only just begun, however it’s been a whirlwind. With digging pools, knocking down walls, driving tractors, welcoming our first customers and learning French, all whilst being filmed for the Channel 4 programme ‘A New Life In The Sun’.
We hope that Fig Trees brings our customers as much joy as it has brought us over the past few months. We have poured our love for France, our obsession for chic interiors, and our drive for perfection into our new home which we are thrilled to share with our customers.
DEVELOPER MEET DECORATOR
Meet Simon Lovering
After 30 years owning various roofing and eco companies and eventually working as a project manager for a large corporate company on the south coast of England, it was time to put my experience to good use, and take on the adventure of a lifetime, renovating and restoring an 18th century farmhouse.
In my personal time, I enjoy the local wines and cheeses and visiting historic villages in the area.
The biggest challenge renovating Fig Trees is dealing with the fact that nothing is straight or solid!
The most rewarding aspect of renovating Fig Trees is remembering that we are only the current custodians of this place. Many (who we have met in the village) have gone before us, and there will be more to follow.
INTERIOR DESIGNER AND ASPIRING CHEF
Meet Cheryl Lovering
I have always loved hosting for friends and families, throwing fun and extravagant dinner parties, and making sure people are comfortable, full, and entertained. Our household has always been a revolving door of children, with three of our own children and many foster children, there was never a dull day at our house.
In my personal time, I enjoy cooking up some wonderful recipes using local produce, then sharing them with friends and guests.
The biggest challenge renovating Fig Trees is is restoring the stonework, which I am passionate about.
The most rewarding aspect of renovating Fig Trees is seeing each room coming together then designing the furnishing and fabrics.
OUR STORY
Falling In Love With France
The Beginning of our French Adventure
Somewhere in the midst of all this chaos, we managed to get ourselves selected to feature in the TV programme ‘A New Life In The Sun’.
We are constantly busy.
We are already loving our new life in France.
Our First Taste of France
Our love affair with France started in 1988, as we set off for a place call La Rochelle on our honeymoon in our old Audi 80.
We spent a blissful few days in and around La Rochelle, drinking in the culture and loving the food and wine for the first time. We ate a superb fillet steak one night, that became our benchmark for several years as to how a steak should be, and it was to be a return to France years later that finally surpassed it!
Making our Dream a Reality
Life then got in the way for a number of years, as our family grew and we fostered for 22 years, but there was still that dream of buying a house in France, and despite a number of false starts, we finally started the process in 2020.
Now you may ask why we would choose such a year, amid a pandemic, to finally decide we should go for it?
I think our 3rd daughter getting married, (the older 2 were married with Children now), and fleeing the nest may have pushed us a bit, and watching every episode of Escape to the Chateau, but we knew the time was now.
Finding Fig Trees
We became very good at viewing countless properties online, but nothing was quite hitting the spot, until that day in March 2021!
It was a large stone house, with potential to be even larger, set in its own land, not overlooked with space for a pool and surrounded by vineyards.
We entered into negotiations and found ourselves having agreed terms for the house, the maddest 48 hours in which we fell head over heals in love with our old stone house, tractor and 3 large fig trees!
So that left us in the end with a moving date in February 2022, which seemed to be so far away, we would have to play a waiting game until the spring.
We made our plans, rented out our house in England and began packing.