ABOUT
Chez Mathieu is a peaceful getaway from busy city life. It is located in the village of Vendoire, right in the heart of rural France; in the Dordogne, very near the border of Charente.
The site at Chez Mathieu was originally an old farm, built around the mid-eighteenth century, and included a stable, a barn, a cowshed and a pigsty, as well as the main farmhouse, where the farmer and his family would have lived.
At some point over the years, Chez Mathieu was abandoned and left to a point almost of disrepair. In the 1980s a British builder bought the entire plot. He renovated each structure into holiday homes, and added a swimming pool. In 2006, Mary bought the farmhouse. Each year, Mary updated the farmhouse to a modern standard, yet keeping it in a rustic, farmhouse style.
The surrounding area has barely been build-up, and still looks similar to how it must have looked when the farm was originally built. It is surrounded by fields of corn and sunflowers, with quiet winding roads, dotted with other old stone farmhouses. There is very little traffic, besides the odd tractor.
THE TEAM
Mary and Katy
Mary and Katy are a mother and daughter team. Mary lives between London and Edinburgh, and Katy now lives in Montréal, Canada. Mary bought Chez Mathieu's farmhouse ten years ago, and now they run it together as a holiday home, and meet there themselves every summer, with Katy's children. When they are not using it, they rent it out uncommercially as a holiday let to family, friends, or friends of friends, and colleagues. If you are reading this, it is likely that you are one of the above!