:: Welcome to Louis de Marigny ::

Our brief was complicated.we needed a family home for us and our 4 year old son, but we also needed sufficient space for the business we wanted to start which was a residential cooking school and a private catering business. This was proving difficult to find, especially with our budget.

We gave Louis a call and he asked us in detail what we were looking for and we arranged to visit him in a month's time.

During our meeting with Louis, he showed us details of a house that we had originally discounted as it was too small for our needs, although it looked a beautiful property.

Louis then pulled out a plan showing how we could build the additional space needed to start our business. Working totally on his own initiative, Louis had gone to the trouble of asking a local architect to draw a design with a rough idea of costs (within our budget) and how it would look and fit our requirements!

This impressed us immensely as it was a totally unexpected service and one that no previous agent had the forethought of doing. It showed the exact understanding Louis had of our plans and how together we could bring them to fruition. We went off to view the property and realised it was in the village of Larroque, which we had driven through previously and commented on how beautiful it was. The property was a converted (10 years previously by an English couple) barn, with a very large kitchen (very important for us cooks) and a stunning open plan living area with a large vaulted roof. We loved it. We went outside and Louis described and marked out where the new building could be, and we also discussed where a pool could be situated.

We went away to think about it and explained that we had another property to see with another estate agent the following day. What we were shown was no where near as nice or in the right place as what we had seen with Louis and we had already made our minds up by that time so we decided to put in an offer which was accepted. The following day we signed the initial contract (an agreement by us to buy the property & the seller to sell the property) with a 7 day get out clause.

Louis accompanied us to meetings with the architect and we discussed in more detail what we would need.

Louis stayed in contact throughout the buying process, keeping us updated all of the time. He arranged planning permission, liaised with the architect and appointed builders.

We moved in mid February 2006 and the building work started almost immediately, we didn't have to wait at all.

Louis does not just assist you in buying the house, he was with us every step of the way, helping us set up and register the business, opening bank accounts, recommending accountants and accompanying us to the Chambre de Metiers. He also took us to a local (English speaking) Doctor and registered us with him.

Overall, the attention to detail and support we were given by Louis went far beyond what we ever expected from an estate agent in France and we firmly believe he really goes the extra mile for his clients.

Two years later on, the building work is complete and we now have a wonderful two bedroom gîte and swimming pool, with facilities for running our cookery school and private catering business. Our company, 'La Bonne Bouffe' is now established and developing fast, something too that Louis has actively helped to promote wherever possible. We count ourselves very fortunate to be living in a beautifully converted barn, in a picturesque village, with good prospects for the future. Max, our son, is now 6 and has settled in to his school (only 30 children in the whole school) and has many friends. We love the village we live in, our neighbours couldn't be more hospitable and friendly and Chris is now part of the committee de fetes (and our village has lots of fetes!!)

It goes without saying that Louis and his wife Jacqueline have been instrumental in making our dreams of a new life in France come true and their continued support and friendship is something we feel we couldn't have survived without...and long may it continue.