Living the Château Dream
In January 2015 Dick and Angel Strawbridge embarked on the journey of a lifetime when they swapped their cosy two-bedroom flat in East London for a derelict château with 12 acres of land in the Loire valley.
Where Sunday Times bestseller A Year At The Château told the entertaining and heartwarming beginning of the family's French adventure, as they found their forever home and began to restore and renovate the dilapidated castle, Living The Château Dream is about the years of hard graft that followed. Dick and Angel leapt into action transforming Château-de-la-Motte Husson into both a thriving family home and a sustainable business, and began making their dream of rural life in a fairytale castle a reality.
From throwing open the shutters to new suites to exploring the walled garden, launching their wedding business and hosting guests for food lover weekends, no stone was left unturned. From the day-to-day tasks like installing a lift to the beginnings of lifelong traditions and memories such as investigating the seasonal delights of the surroundings and having a family sleepover on the moat, this much-anticipated follow-up includes many firsts for the Strawbridge family. As Dick and Angel recount stories of the renovations that took place over the next four years at the château, we start to understand the true extent of the work and skill that it has taken to make this incredible house into a much-loved home.
With stories of remarkable discoveries and unexpected challenges, amazing transformations and once-in-a-lifetime celebrations, this book is sure to delight, entertain and inspire fans in equal measure.
Born in Burma, but raised and educated in Northern Ireland, Dick Strawbridge retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2001 before becoming a full-time television presenter and author (with arguably the best moustache in showbusiness). He is a man of many interests, some of which are reflected in his successful and varied television career.
Angel Strawbridge is a 1940s vintage-clad redhead from East London. She is the founder of The Vintage Patisserie, a glamorous hospitality company, and author of the bestselling Vintage Tea Party series. In 2011 she opened her first Vintage Patisserie in Hackney, East London.
Dick and Angel met and fell in love in 2010. They have two children together: Arthur, born in 2013, and Dorothy, born in 2014. In 2015 they bought a derelict château in the Loire valley and became the subjects of the hugely popular Channel 4 hit Escape to the Château. After extensive renovations on a shoestring budget, the couple married at their family home in November 2015.