His paintings, which take pride of place on the walls, add a modern twist that contrasts wonderfully with the building's more traditional features. “Although I'm in the middle of the countryside, it's actually a far less isolated life than living in a city,” says Stephanie. “I'd probably go crazy if I didn't,” she confesses. I hung pink curtains in there though, just to keep the link.”.

Every year I do a van trip to bring more items down.”.

“My boyfriend at the time was very cool because he said 'yeah, go and buy a château with another man',” Stephanie recalls.
When asked what she loves most about living in a château, it's the fact that she will be working on it for many years to come that seems to inspire her. The organic fruit and vegetables that the château's walled garden produces are used to create delicious feasts for their chambres d'hôtes guests. Stephanie is particularly proud of the changes that have been made to the dining room. First shown: Thu 7 Nov 2019 | 45 mins.

After settling on France as their country of choice, there were no limits to their search and they travelled the length and breadth of l'Hexagone to find the right château. Escape to the Château DIY Just over a year ago we were contacted to take part in a television series about Brits renovating chateaux in France. At first, Stephanie and Nic had planned to buy the château, renovate it and then move on to another project. In fact, our Chambre Rose is now yellow!

When Stephanie Jarvis joked with her best friend, Nic Larkin, one evening over dinner that they could buy a château for the price of a four-bedroom terraced house in Arsenal, London, she had no idea that an otherwise ordinary evening would be the start of an adventure that would ultimately lead to her living out her childhood dream in rural France. Chatelaine Stephanie Jarvis. Outside, the château is surrounded by 60 acres of serene countryside and Stephanie admits that this is something they are struggling with, as they don't have a full-time gardener. When Stephanie and Nic moved in, they made the decision to do absolutely no renovation work for the first year. “We came in and it was really pokey and dark inside,” she recalls. Unfortunately, after two years, Nic had to go back to England and he now splits his time between London, Brussels (where his fiancée lives) and the château.

But I think it's been made into a little jewel box.”. But I think it's more important to keep the history. Who is Stephanie from Escape to the Chateau: DIY?
This meant that they had to find a way for the château to pay for itself, so they decided to open it up as a chambres d'hôtes so that other people could come and stay and enjoy the château and its wonderful setting.

). As soon as we pulled up in the car I said 'this is it', to which my father replied 'we haven't been inside yet'!