French connection

“I work with a fantastic builder on projects in England and so I really wanted him to do the job. Fortunately, he agreed.

“I did look at hiring French builders but the cost was off the scale in that part of the South of France. The quality of French workmanship is good but they are twice as expensive, partly because of where it is and partly because of the high taxes they have to pay.”

The poor exchange rate and sourcing difficulties also meant it was cheaper to buy most of the materials and furnishings in England, and drive them over to France.

“Around 95 per cent of everything, including the labour and materials, came from Yorkshire,” says Graham, a businessman and property entrepreneur, who adhered to the first rule of property – location, location, location – when he bought the villa in 2006.

It is in a small gated community on a hillside above Villefranche-sur-Mer, between Nice and Monaco, with magnificent views over the Côte d’Azur.

“It’s one of those places you just fall in love with instantly. The estate agent told me it was in one of the Côte d’Azur’s property hotspots, which is the golden triangle that takes in Villefranche, Beaulieu and St Jean Cap Ferrat. It’s a solid gold location,” says Graham.

“It was bought very much for the family rather than from an investment perspective but being a property person I was naturally careful about the area and I took advice from a French business person before I bought it.”

The villa was built around 1981 as a family home but was in desperate need of updating.

“It needed a lot of work. It had very old bathrooms, the kitchen cupboards were hanging off the wall and it had very dated Provencal décor.

“But we didn’t do anything for the first four years – we just used it and enjoyed it. Then last year it got to the point where I really needed to do something with it. The pool was shot, although the boys used to love diving to gather the mosaic tiles that were dropping off,” adds Graham, who has two sons Jordan, 12, and Jamie, 11, and a stepson Anton, nine.

After getting plans drawn by a French architect living in Britain, it took about five months to get permission to start the work.

“That’s the only thing I’d do differently. If we’d used a locally-based architect then we’d have saved a lot of time,” he says.

His friend Mel, of Mel Hemingbrough Design and Build in Leeds, agreed to move to France with a team of workmen to manage the project, while Graham channel hopped to check on progress.

“If anyone is thinking about doing a renovation this way I’d say you have to nail the specifications and get the right builder but it is worthwhile. Even the scaffolders came over from Yorkshire and that was cheaper than hiring a firm 10 minutes away from the villa. Just about everything was from the UK, including the heating and air conditioning system and the kitchen.”

Even the French-style bedroom furniture and Ligne Roset sofa is from the UK, as is the Porcelanosa flooring and outdoor furniture.

“We did have to find sand and cement and hire some tools in France, and we did have a few funny moments. Mel managed by pointing and gesticulating, and he’s a great people person, which helped. The only English the building supplies man knew was Tony Blair, so Mel was Tony Blair and when I turned up with him one day, he introduced me as Gordon Brown.”

The transformation from tired and dated villa to luxurious holiday home took almost a year and included a major makeover for the outdoor area and pool.

The interior, which had three bedrooms and two bathrooms, was reconfigured to create four bedrooms and four bathrooms.

Graham, who has an interest in contemporary design, created a modern interior with no expense spared.

“I call it high-end contemporary and it’s that way because I wanted it to appeal to the rental market. It made sense to let it when we weren’t using it, and it helps cover running costs, which are high. With gardeners, pool maintenance, housekeepers, service charge and rates, it’s about e40,000 a year. The clientele here demand a certain standard, so there’s a sound system throughout including outside and a kitchen designed for entertaining. There are a lot of Russian clients and security is important to them, so we installed a security system.”

The villa cost £1m before the renovation and was, says Graham, a good price.

“Today you need at least £3m to buy a decent, renovated apartment. Anyone with £1m top spend will have limited options. But I think the reason I got this place is because people who have big money want something that is already done up.”

He spent £400,000 on the renovation.

“The market was buoyant when I bought it and it’s now worth considerably more than I paid for it, so the renovation has been worthwhile. A lot of the value is in the location and view. It takes your breath away and views like that aren’t as common as you might think in that area.

“I’m really pleased with it and a lot of that is down to Mel. He spent almost 12 months over there on a job we thought might take six months. That was a big, big commitment and I’m really grateful to him for that.

“Mind you there were some perks for the people working there. They stayed in the villa, worked in a beautiful climate and Villefranche is amazing.”

* For more details on renting the villa from e2,500 a week (low season) to e8,000 euros a week if you fancy staying for the Monaco Grand Prix, visit www.villafrenchriviera.co.uk

Hemingbrough Design and Build. Tel: 07958 517979.