Hidden Depths

Helmut and Jennifer Gorlich Used Their Experience in Renovating Historic Properties to Uncover the Original Beauty of an Old French Building
 

- Johanna Thornycroft

When Helmut Gorlich, originally from Germany, and his wife Jennifer, from Kent, moved to France, it was to buy and run a manor house b&b near Montreuil. Jennifer had never lived abroad and the idea of a French lifestyle always appealed. After some happy years and with thoughts of retirement from the hospitality business, they sold up and bought a down-atheel smaller house nearby, as well as this winter bolthole in the south, near Uzes.

The couple describe themselves as serial restorers, with around 30 properties behind them in England and this project numbering the seventh in France. It is in an area they have known for more than 30 years, having discovered the delights of the Camargue and the region’s Roman monuments while on holiday. ‘It was Jennifer who fell for the place and really saw the potential,’ says Helmut. ‘I needed to view it through her eyes.’