About Us
About us
We are Jacob & Sonja, and together with our children Fenna, Taco, and Emma, we moved from Friesland to France in September 2025. We have been dreaming for years of a life in France, and after spending many years on holiday in various departments, we fell in love with the Lot-et-Garonne. The search for our dream home involved dozens of viewings, and also disappointments that almost made us want to give up. But then this house appeared, which we had passed by so many times but had never noticed. And now we want to make our dream come true here, create gîtes, and welcome guests, so that we can also let them discover this beautiful region.
History of our Domaine
Domaine le Landeau in Virazeil, originally built in the 1890s by a wealthy landowner who held significant property across the surrounding region. It wasn’t just a farmhouse or family home, but a small rural estate designed to organize and support agricultural activity.
At its origin, the main house would have served as family home. Around it, additional buildings were added over time: a smithy, a bakery, and a house for workers. The smith handled repairs for tools and equipment, the bakery likely supplied daily bread for those living and working on-site.
The domaine functioned as a working farm and carpentry company. The land, even if only about one hectare directly associated with the main buildings today, likely sat within a wider network of agricultural activity managed by the same owner.
What remains today is a layered place: originally a small estate of control and production, later a working farm, and now a property carrying traces of both. The buildings still reflect that history—each one tied to a different phase of how the land was used and who lived from it.
