Shropshire Star

British couple who swapped their Shropshire home for a French château returning to UK after missing one thing

Around a decade ago, a couple “gutted" their Shropshire home, sold it and bought a French château and 20 hectares of land - here’s why they’re now returning to the UK.

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A British couple are selling their French château to return to the UK - and are looking forward to returning to a pub for a Sunday roast.

Around a decade ago, Natalie and Andrew Solomon decided to sell their rural Shropshire home and swap it for a French château and 20 hectares of land.

The Château de Memanat and its grounds are now on sale for €1.35m.
The Château de Memanat and its grounds are now on sale for €1.35m

The couple, who were joined by their parents and young children, made the move in search of a new adventure in a different country and say they don't regret a thing. 

After settling in, the Solomons built luxury accommodation in two handcrafted treehouses - complete with hot tubs and offering full English breakfasts and butter chicken curries instead of the typical continental cuisine.

Now, the family has decided to return back home to Britain to be close to friends and family and after building a successful business. 

The Château de Memanat and its grounds are now on sale for €1.35m. 

Mrs Solomon, 38, says the two treehouses - built in 2017 and 2023 - were always their grand plan, after initially renting a nearby gite and using their château as a BNB. 

The castle-themed Castel De L'arbre and Cabanon Perche treehouses can be rented for prices starting at €245 a night for two people.

Mother-of-two Mrs Solomon said: "It will be a bit of a change, returning home. The kids were two and four when we came here, and my parents came as well. It was an adventure: an out-of-our-comfort-zone type situation. 

"We wanted the kids to be bilingual; my daughter was learning English and French at the same time.

"It was the age-old challenge: how do you work and have kids? But here, that has worked very well for us.

"We gutted our house in Shropshire, sold it and could buy this château with 20 hectares in France. It's going to be an emotional upheaval for us when we leave - this is where we raised our family."

Though they got the lion's share of the money to buy their château for €800,000 from the sale of their home, the family were also helped in part by Mrs Solomon's parents. 

Mrs Solomon explained that, at the start, things were difficult for the family in rural France.

She said: "If something happens at home, you know who to call. But here, it was like 'how do you even say plumber?'. We have overcome all of that.

“The kids have been able to be free and just be kids here.

"We've not just dipped our toes in - we've done 10 years here, we've built these two treehouses.

"It's very rural and spread out here. There's nobody on the roads and there's rolling hills and valleys... It's beautiful."

But despite enjoying their 10-year adventure in France, the family say they're excited to return to Blighty.  

Mrs Solomon admits that one thing she's looking forward to is a regular Sunday roast at a pub. 

She said: "If you turn up somewhere here at like, half one, they would be like: 'Dream on, kitchen's closed'. To walk to a pub and get a Sunday roast will be great.

"It's a slower pace of life in France. Where we live, we are probably about 30 years behind the UK.

"I do think there's more of a community here.

"Where we send our kids to school is another big influence [on our move]. Here, school runs until 6pm, but the holidays are shorter in the UK. Obviously, the kids are going to be great at French, but when they started school, they didn't speak French and the teachers didn't speak English.

"We are grateful to have had this adventure, but now it's time for our next adventure."

Mrs Solomon adds that though they've made the decision to return home, when they make the move will depend on when Château de Memanat sells and, once it does, how long it takes them to find another home. 

On what they're looking for in their new home, she adds that they would love to construct similar luxury treehouses on British shores, but didn't rule out a return abroad one day. 

She said: "I could see us retiring abroad. We are going back to England with an open mind. In an ideal world, we would love to do something similar to what we've done here in England."