MILLER'S TALE

A dilapidated watermill is now an idyllic holiday home, thanks to a luxurious makeover

- JULIET BENNING

A love of the wide expansive sunflower fields, streams and meadows of the French countryside is what brought Moniek and Bram Drexhage to their mill house, the Moulin Calbel. The couple, who live in Holland, spotted the crumbling property in 2015 while touring the surrounding area. ‘We already had a house in the region and we used to swim in the stream. When we saw the mill was up for sale, we knew we had to act,’ says Bram.

Both admirers of the French lifestyle, Moniek and Bram had bought their original holiday farmhouse after a walking tour in 2002. The region they settled for, Quercy in southwest France, is between Bordeaux and Toulouse, just south of the Dordogne. ‘The landscape is still pure and unspoilt, with green hills, cypresses, fruit trees, endless sunflower fields and bastide villages. It is sometimes called the Tuscany of France,’ says Bram. ‘The inhabitants are known as the happiest people in France and they are very friendly.’