Stuart & Penny
Scottish sweethearts ready to pack up the music room and bagpipes to live out “la vie Française” in their own boutique chateau.
About Stuart and Penny
Penny and Stuart have been together for 25 years and have 2 children aged 17 and 19. They met whilst both working for a huge gaming company in Dundee, even working on games such as Grand Theft Auto!
Stuart is originally from the Scottish Highlands and Penny is from Dundee. Penny says he is the “posh” one in the family!
Penny used to run her own child-minding business, so she has the people skills and financial skills too through doing her own bookkeeping. She now works in a school as an office manager, so running a chateau business will be no challenge for this pair.
Stuart’s dad was an architect, and in his spare time, when he wasn’t making music, he would join in and help out the family business and hone his own craft.
Stuart still works within the gaming industry as a music composer and has won a Bafta for his previous work.
Their DIY journey
Stuart and Penny have lived in their 300-year-old cottage in the Midlands for 14 years, which they say does not have a single 90-degree corner or straight wall.
Naturally, this has come with its issues. They were once trying to remove the bathroom wall tiles and the wall came down with it! On the flipside, this led to an opportunity as the pair learned to rebuild the wall using plasterboard. Penny now actually loves tiling and is going to do the same with their ensuite.
When decorating their home, as proud Scots, they’ve both taken a lot of influence from The Highlands with their colours and designs and would love to bring some Scottish influence over to France and the chateau.
Penny admits that she is a real perfectionist, and if she’s painted a room but is not happy with it, she will start from scratch until she gets the perfect colours.
The couple have owned a number of properties across their lives and always place their own, unique stamp on them. Penny has a keen eye for design and has a library of property magazines full of her post-it note bookmarks. She also has a passion for reusing, and most of their furniture is upcycled.
During their DIY journey, Stuart and Penny have experience with bathroom transformations, tiling, grouting, plumbing-in sinks and toilets, ripping up carpets, learning how to lay floors, and building a garden treehouse for the kids.
The Dream
Before they had children, the couple had always wanted to move abroad to “sunnier climes” and enjoy the lifestyle France has to offer.
They would love to turn the chateau into a boutique hotel/B&B. Penny says she would be in her element designing it, and they also want to create an experience with music events, as Stuart and his music pals will be on tap.