'We moved from the US to France to restore a château'

“It is a very American fantasy to live abroad,” says Phillip Engel, which is just what he and husband Mark Goff are now doing. 

Having become the proud owners of the Château d’Avensac in Gers, they are taking great care over its restoration, at the same time embracing a whole new way of life in France.

The adventure began in 2015 in Northern California, when Mark saw a blog post about a French château renovation project. 

Seeing pictures of it sparked the idea that this was something they could do themselves and several trips to France followed, assessing dozens of properties. 

They fell in love with Gers and discovered their very own château project in the small village of Avensac, about an hour north-west of Toulouse.

Lords of the château

Married for more than 20 years and having already completed two large renovations in the US, Mark and Phillip finally bought the Château d’Avensac for €980,000 in September 2021. 

The day they completed the paperwork, they opened the front gates and invited everyone from the village to come in and wander round. 

As the château sits walled off from the village, many of the older residents were both surprised and happy at finally being able to visit.

Read more: ‘Restoring a medieval chateau in France is more than lifetime project’

While Phillip has good French, Mark uses a mixture of franglais and a made-up sign language to communicate, which seems to be working well. 

They both appreciate the relationships they are building in the community and have found lots of support: from neighbours and local farmers lending equipment to the mayor helping them deal with certain bureaucratic issues they have encountered.

Though the original plan was for Mark to be part of the building team, he needed spinal surgery while in France. A side-effect of the operation was temporary paralysis. 

Adapting to this new situation has been the biggest challenge of the project for the couple so far, but they are facing it with courage, determination and a sense of humour. 

After travelling to and from a long day of physical therapy six times a week, they come home to the château where Mark catches up on progress and deals with any questions from the team. 

His attention to detail is exceptionally high, including zero tolerance for any surface wiring or plumbing. Their approach is to restore the chateau to how it would have first looked, reusing as much of the original materials as they can.

The massive stone walls of the chateau are proving a challenge after the relative ease of working on US projects. 

Timber frames and space behind plaster walls made renovations much simpler there. 

Nevertheless, electrics, plumbing, sewerage and rotten floors have all been replaced and downstairs many of the rooms are close to being ready for decorating.

Read more: I have enjoyed every one of my five French chateaux renovations

Mark has now become overall project manager, as they quickly learnt that having people working directly for them was much more effective than going through someone else. 

They have built up a team of six who regularly work at the chateau, and highly value the three artisans carrying out the restoration as well as those looking after the grounds and day-to-day maintenance. 

They also run a small volunteer programme giving the opportunity to stay at the chateau in return for part-time hours cooking and shopping. 

French bureaucracy

They both agree that living in France has been a learning curve, but insist the administrative side is no worse than in the US – just different. 

“For those coming into France there’s often a real fear of the bureaucracy,” says Phillip, “but I’ve learnt not to be afraid.” 

After deciding to register a cherished old truck they brought over with them, he realised there is a process to follow for everything, you just need to go about it carefully.

While they did a huge amount of research before buying the château, both Mark and Phillip say it can never fully prepare you for the reality. 

For example, they knew that some parts of the work would be expensive but it was not until they began that they found out exactly how much it would cost. 

Embracing French culture

For both men, this is the investment phase and they are planning to ultimately create a business at the château to generate a return. 

A soft opening is pencilled in for later this year once the first section of works is complete. 

They intend to run simple events initially and test out their ideas before really getting going in 2026, possibly with residential courses to introduce people to different parts of French culture, such as food and cooking. 

Their story to date has been carefully documented online at atthechateau.com, and their blog is a wealth of information for anyone thinking of moving to France or taking on their own restoration project. 

They are also on Instagram (@atthechateau.france) and run a YouTube channel with videos about their journey so far, advice and tours through the chateau.

Once the restoration is complete, Mark and Phillip plan to hold a big party at the château, inviting all the locals just like on the day they bought it. Their enthusiasm for the project is unabated. 

“We love everything about this experience,” says Mark.