Buying a Lake Property in France | The Reality and the Dream

Ever dreamed about buying a lake property in France?

Well, Kelly and Paul Copperwaite turned that dream into a reality and did just that. And that’s not all, they also started two businesses as part of their new life in France.

Paul, a Carp Fisherman, had the experience needed to start a carp fishing business on their lake. Kelly had the passion and idea to create a dog park for other rescue dogs like hers.

But none of it has been easy. It’s been three years of hard graft, and they aren’t finished yet.

But would they have done any of it differently? I’ll let Kelly be the judge of that one as she tells us her story.

Buying a lake property in France in the Haute-Vienne.

Kelly, your first trip to France was back in 2006 with your hubby, Paul, and it was love at first visit. Tell me more about your journey to living in France and ‘taking the plunge to buy’ a home here.

We decided to take a holiday in 2006 with a tent in the boot, got to Calais and decided to go right. 

We travelled through France for two weeks, fell in love with it, and decided we would love to live there one day.  

We spent many years keeping an eye on what was for sale and, given Paul’s love of fishing, decided that if we were to live here, that would be the basis of our income in France.  

We were always looking, and when Paul’s Dad sadly passed away in 2017, he left us a little bit of money, enabling us to seriously look at properties. 

Over the next two years, we looked at what seemed like a lot of properties, but none of them were quite right. 

We needed more money, so we decided to sell our newly renovated house in the UK and take on another project. This would give us the extra money we needed to afford what we wanted. 

Fate intervened and took them back to France

The evening before we were going to offer on the property in the UK, Paul said that something interesting had come onto the market and that it would be worth looking at. 

So, we didn’t put an offer in; instead, we travelled to Magnac Bourg and met the Agent for the property. 

It was on the morning of the Rugby World Cup Final in 2019, which we watched at a nearby village tabac in Cussac Bonneval with the agent before looking at what is now our house and lake.

The property, in its entirety, is 44 acres and has not been lived in for well over 30 years. The lake, which is 18 acres, was in a complete state, 

When we finally moved, we found someone had been to the lake and set up an impressive camp that we suspected was stealing our fish. 

We had to literally strim our way into the property to set up the caravan and have never really looked back!

You’ve moved from South East England. What drew you to Haute-Vienne?

We didn’t actually have an area in mind, although Paul had said it would be better to be no further down into France than Le Mans to start with. 

But we kept creeping further south as we loved the area so much.

Moving to France with a dog

But you didn’t come here on your own, did you? You were accompanied by Lola, your Romanian rescue dog. What was it like moving to France with a dog in tow?

When we made the move, Lola had only been with us for five months. We were worried because she had spent a couple of days in a van coming over from Romania; however, she was amazing. 

We got a big crate to go in the back of our truck and cut a hole in it so that we could easily reach her and she could poke her head through to say hello, too. 

We stopped halfway on the final drive from the UK, so Lola had her first sleepover in an Ibis! 

Luckily, because Lola came from Romania, she already had an EU Passport, so it was easy, apart from a worming tablet. 

Buying a Lake Property in France as a Business

One of the questions we get about moving to France is about work and whether it’s possible to work in France as an Expat and start a business.  Now you’re a glutton for punishment, running not one but two businesses here in France. Let’s talk about the Lake Villedieu business first. I believe Paul has been a carp fisherman for around 30 years, so I’m guessing that’s where the inspiration came from.

Yes, because he is such a keen and experienced fisherman, that was the basis of our move to France, what we planned to do, and what we worked hard for. 

The property had many, many years’ worth of growth where nothing had been looked after for so long, and we had to get a 20-tonne digger to help with the work. 

There were no clear banks, and a lot of silt in the lake. 

We spent about two years trying to make it look perfect, and we are just about there now!  

We knew how popular Carp Fishing was and still is, not to mention its benefits. We love to host and have met some amazing people since we opened in April 2023. Starting the business for us wasn’t too difficult. We had a plan, but we were lucky insofar as we were residents before Brexit, so we didn’t have to go about getting residency in the same way you have to now. 

So, it was fairly smooth for us, and we also had help when required from a relocation business.

The story of the Lake Property in France

Like so many things in France, your lake is steeped in history. It was built originally as part of La Villedieu Chateau. Can you tell us more?

I love this story. Hopefully, I’m telling it correctly, as it is second-hand.

Apparently, La Villedieu Chateau was bought by a Lawyer from Limoges for his mistress, who lived there, possibly until her death. 

As we understand from the current owners, some of her belongings were still in the Chateau when they bought it. 

After that, another family had it for a while, and then the family we bought it from had it from around the 1930s.  

Another interesting bit of history about the Chateau was that it still has the remains of an old monastery, which was a stop-off for pilgrims travelling between Limoges and Brive.

The carp fishing lake isn’t your only business. You also have Dogs Play in France, which I’m guessing was inspired by Lola. Can you tell us more about what it is and how it all works?

Dogs Play in France was born from where we used to take Lola in the UK, so she could have a good run and play off the lead in a secure area. 

Lola is a rescue dog, and we assume she has a hunting nature from being a street dog, so the secure dog-walking fields in the UK were perfect.  

We know there are many people here in France with rescues, so it’s a place to take them for a change of scenery or a picnic. 

The field is about an acre and totally secure.

 I would love to see it used more than it is, but Lola loves it in there. And we’ve made some little doggy play things, like jumps, log piles, and even a tunnel.

Starting two different businesses in France and the red tape involved

Are there any rules and regulations around starting a business like this in France? 

It’s not too difficult, depending on what you’re doing. 

The lake had to conform to the DDT (Direction Départementale des Territoires) requests, so we had to make some changes and repairs to what was already in place. We only had two years to complete the work to keep our license with them.

We struggled to set up the lake business because the size of the lake raised questions about who would manage the healthcare side of things. 

Finally, after nearly two years, it was decided that the MSA would be responsible for this. So it took Paul this long to get his Carte Vitale. But we got there in the end! 

With my business, it was really straightforward and took around two months, if I recall correctly. 

But the dog walking field and the lake at the start were not enough. So Paul does some handyman work, and I’m a Virtual Assistant and Graphic Designer too, which has helped a little.  

I wish that I had something already planned and in place when we left the UK, but it has not been difficult to find some work around the area when needed. 

Do you have many French clients with their dogs, or is it mainly English? 

We have mainly had English clients, but as mentioned, very few. We have done a Puppy Playdate, which was great fun, and a local behaviourist ran a class from there, but ultimately, we would love to welcome more doggies.

Living the Good Life in France

What do you love most about living in France?

The way of life! We could not get this work/life balance in the UK. And when I say work/life balance, it’s irrelevant, as it doesn’t feel like work here. Nothing we do is a chore. 

In the UK, we never saw one another. Paul worked away basically all of the time, and I worked full-time. We sometimes smile, wondering how on earth we are this lucky!

Any advice for other couples looking to move to France and start a business?

Be prepared for anything and everything. Honestly, it’s been a lot of hard work to make the lake successful, and we still have a long way to go. We still live in a caravan as we don’t have enough money to do the work on the house yet. 

And knowing now what we didn’t know then, we probably would not have bought the lake and invested in a smaller property.

It’s been hard and stressful, and although we’re now seeing the benefits and wouldn’t change a thing, you need to be prepared to do what you must to survive. 

I also think it’s really important to ensure you can be mortgage-free unless you have a steady income from a business that is already up and running and creating income.

If you have dogs that would love some playtime, or if you’re a keen carp fisherman, check out the links below to get in touch with Kelly and Paul.

The Lake Details

• Website
• Facebook
• Instagram

Dogs Play in France Details

• Website
• Facebook