-Property hunting Brits have been snapping up dream homes abroad for years.

-Oh, wow.

-But some won't settle for just a room with a view.

-This is not a house.

It has 50 rooms and surrounding 1,200 years.

-Their hearts are set on saving the ghost villages of Europe.

-Massively important, It makes me feel proud and nervous to do the right thing.

-In this series, we catch up with the British guardian angels moving heaven and earth.

To save abandoned hamlets, borgo, and quinta across the continent.

-I don't know the number and I don't speak Spanish.

-We meet some brand new owners too.

-Oh, dear.

-The last year has probably cost me over £200,000.

-Uncovering ancient mysteries and holding history in their hands.

-What is that?

-[ Laughs ] I don't know.

-Will they be flying high... -Whoo!

-We've got windows!

-Cheers!

-Yeah.

-...or falling flat?

-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

-Hold on, yeah?

Hold on.

-[ Grunts ] -Whoa!

-[ Chuckles ] -Our village saviors are throwing themselves in at the deep end as they restore the past to build their future.

-We bought a village.

-We bought a village.

-We bought a village.

-And we're through buying villages.

[ Birds chirping ] -Today... -There's loads of old books, newspapers.

-...the incredible story of the man buying an abandoned village on eBay.

-I was always told, invest in bricks and mortar.

You'll never lose.

So let's take a gamble.

-But will his kids be impressed?

-What's your first impressions?

-It's teatime for our village saviors in the Limousin.

-Can't have afternoon tea without Victoria sponge.

-But is there a visitor with a secret agenda?

-Do you know the French lady on her own?

-Yeah.

-We think she's a food critic.

Oh, sh-- crap.

-[ Laughs ] -And at another French hamlet, there are spectacular transformations upstairs.

-Lolly's spraying everything gold 'cause this is a gold themed room.

So she's around spraying everything.

If it stands still for too long, it turns gold.

So, um, yeah, just keep moving.

-But big problems too, in the Watchtower.

-And just let it droop, So it's making a bit of a radius already before you start putting it on.

See?

That's what you don't want.

♪♪ [ Birds chirping ] -Ghost villages are littered throughout the countryside in Europe and most other victims of industrialization.

Probably nowhere has been hit harder, though, than Bulgaria, where by 2060 it's predicted there will be no rural villages left at all.

At the last count, nearly 600 villages had a population of fewer than ten people and about 200 had no residents at all.

-When you go through the villages, you can see that a big percentage of them are -- compared with the size -- they are maybe 50 or 60% empty.

-The situation is likely to get worse.

Just under 2 million people still live in the Bulgarian countryside, but about half of them are drawing a pension, and the younger generations are choosing to live in the cities because that's where the jobs are.

-In the past, Bulgaria was much more orientated agricultural country.

So when the communists comes about 1945, they try to organize the country much more heavy industry, which concentrates more people to go to the cities and to work in the factories.

So this makes people to go from the village to move to the big cities.

-There's one upside to the emptying of the Bulgarian countryside, though -- Property prices, because the average three bedroom house cost less than £30,000 and there are even bigger bargains to be had.

-It's cheap.

A lot of people are interested.

I can see the viewings they want, you know, the inquiries they send.

It's a lot and it's a really good project.

It's really good project and by my opinion it's still worth to buy it because after 2 or 3 years, Bulgaria will become much more and more and more attractive.

-20 miles north of the Turkish border is Golyamo Krushevo.

It once had around 500 residents, but today most of the property lies abandoned and it was on the verge of complete collapse until one of the houses was put up for sale on an internet site, and it caught the eye of a delivery driver in Scotland.

Rob lives with his family on the West Coast, but he'd been hunting for a property abroad for a while.

-They're shutting down here.

I'm always looking to see what properties they've got on the market and to see if there's any bargains out there.

I was just doing a random search on the internet, on eBay.

Um, just typing in properties.

Just to see what there is, you know, and that's how it came about.

It was just pure random.

-Based on the photographs alone, Rob paid an incredible £3,000 for a 6-room detached house in half an acre of land.

He believes it was built over 100 years ago, but since the 1980s, it's been empty and abandoned.

-Seeing pictures of it, that was it.

So...seeing it makes us -- I'm interested in that, I think I paid £200 deposit, I've got the keys.

The rest is history.

-The house has no fitted bathroom, kitchen, windows, electricity or running water.

But Rob isn't daunted by the challenge.

He's simply delighted to be investing in his family's future.

-Feeling off this beastly four walls around the roof.

But it was ours.

You know, it felt amazing to actually to be able to go, "Well, we own a property."

Can't do that in the UK.

-After buying the house in 2023, Rob fell in love with the village and with the idea of leaving a legacy for his children.

So he bought a second property, a traditional Bulgarian cottage, for £2,500, and then he bought a third.

This last one is the newest.

It was probably built in the 1940s and unlike the others, has electricity and running water.

Like so many of our village saviors, Rob found himself unable to step onto the property ladder in the UK.

But now he's on the way to owning an entire settlement and he can't wait to show it to his sons.

-It's a gamble.

It's an investment.

Um, they don't like it, they don't like it.

-While Rob is at the very start of his journey, Ted and Lisa, from Essex, are well on the way to saving their own once forgotten hamlet.

Montmagner's glory days were in the 18th century, when it was a post house with a coaching inn, and from the moment Ted and Lisa found it, they'd been determined to resurrect the spirit of the past.

-As the mayor tells us, back in those days, it would have been absolutely heaving with activity.

-And that's, hopefully, where we want to go.

We'd like to do, you know, that's the route we'd like to take.

-Ted and Liz have thrown everything into this project of a lifetime, and the results are simply stunning.

They've renovated three guest bedrooms, opened a cafe, and landscaped their six acres of land.

-The goal was to bring this back into the community and make sure that it wasn't just us that gained out of this property being usable again, but it was a community that gained out of it.

-It's mid-March in Montmagner, Ted and Lisa have now been here for almost three years, but there's still plenty to do.

They'd love to restore the ruins they've discovered on their land, and they also need to complete the piggery they're trying to turn into a gîte.

It means they need to carry on bringing in money.

-There must be an easier way.

-And today, Ted and Lisa are putting up marquees for an afternoon tea event tomorrow.

They're hoping to pull in about 50 people, and it will be a welcome boost to their coffers.

-Get set.

Go!

-Money is dwindling quite rapidly.

-The hopefully the first sort of spring event, um, springs us back into the new year.

Um, and onward and upward.

-Okay, that's all done.

Next on the list is go and find what tablecloths I've got, what I need to make, and, um -- and get all the decoration out.

Start decorating.

Make it look pretty.

-The highlight of tomorrow's menu will be Lisa's homemade cakes, and she's enlisted Ted's help to construct some artisan cake stands.

-To make cake stands, we drill holes in plates.

That is the mystery.

This is good.

It's a real shame 'cause look at that.

Isn't that a lovely sized dinner plate?

That's my size dinner plate, that is.

This one... is a bit of a pain.

There we go.

Job done.

Whoo hoo!

-Back over in the marquees.

-You can hide a multitude of scenes with voil.

-Lisa's talent for crafting and her eye for detail means she's quickly able to transform the sterile marquees into beautiful spaces.

-The thing is, this is a lot of work for one day, but I just think it's really worth it.

Even if I don't get bookings from tomorrow, hopefully they will upload pictures to their social media so people could see how lovely it looks, and then that will hopefully get me some bookings from it.

-There's still plenty to do though, and with so much riding on tomorrow, Lisa definitely doesn't expect to get to bed early, even with a hamlet like Montmagner that's well on the way to being rescued, the work is never over.

-I think I've done as much as I could do out here for today.

Everything else can be done tomorrow, so I need to really get cooking now 'cause I'm really worried.

It's now 6:30 and haven't even started cooking, so it's going to be a long, long night.

-Coming up, Rob shows his boys their village for the first time.

-Oh, Ross, come in here.

-These houses should be preserved.

The history in them, it's -- it's mad.

-And in France, they're fighting to release a hamlet from the grip of nature.

-They've been allowed to grow here for about 30 years, I think.

Yeah, they're not the easiest, some of them, to get up.

♪♪ -Epic projects usually come with epic timetables.

And when you're trying to save an abandoned village, there are no quick fixes.

So for couples like Lolly and Sean from Sussex, every small step can feel like a giant leap.

They've invested in La Galiserie, a traditional French manoir that dates back to the 17th century and which once supported dozens of families in its grounds.

-We kind of had to see through how derelict it was.

It had a tower, so that ticked a box for you.

We were isolated, so that ticked a box.

-We'll learn as we go.

We'll make some mistakes along the way.

There'll be some tears there'll be some blood, there'll be some sweat, But hopefully there'll be lots of laughter.

And hopefully a little bit of money left in the bank.

[ Laughter ] -Yeah, that's the biggest bonus.

♪♪ -It's July, and while Sean and Lolly wait for contractors to help with the bigger jobs, they're doing what they can themselves.

One place they've already transformed is an old storeroom for melons that will soon be a reception.

-That's our name, La Galiserie.

Sean came in and said, "When are you going to finish it?

Don't you need to rub out the pencil marks?"

But actually, I quite like it.

I'm going to leave it.

I quite like it.

-Sean and Lolly's focus today though is the courtyard.

There would once have been the busiest part of the manoir.

-They've been allowed to grow here for about 30 years I think.

So... Yeah, they're not the easiest, some of them, to get up.

Killing the weeds.

-Slow down then.

Geez, are we running a marathon?

-Why are you walking like that?

[ Laughs ] Just there for now.

-That's when they walk.

-Look at that job.

Love it.

Yeah, and it looks great.

Really pleased with it.

-One job the couple can't do themselves, though, is the staircase in the watchtower.

It dates back to the 1600s, when France and Spain were fighting in the Thirty Years' War.

But it's also been used to keep pigeons.

For centuries, the birds were a vital source of protein, especially in winter, and their meat was usually roasted, pickled, or put into pies and served with berry gravy.

-Darling Robert is actually making my stairwell to heaven.

-There have been a number of staircases here in the past made of stone or wood, but the last one was stolen when the manoir was abandoned.

Luckily, Lolly's neighbor Robert is a retired joiner, and she's persuaded him to pick up his tools for one last job.

-He's making the most beautiful, sweeping staircase that's going to bring us up to these two bedrooms.

He is a genius, actually.

-Robert is a few days into his new build now, but he's hit a problem.

He needs to create curved sides and the thin strips of wood he's using keep splitting when he tries to bend them.

He's dampening the boards to make them more malleable, but it's a bit hit and miss.

-This has worked in the past on boats, but this isn't a boat, this is a staircase.

But we shall see.

You don't want to soak it because it will fall apart.

And just let it droop.

So it's making a bit of a radius already before you start putting it on.

But see, that's what you don't want.

Hear that creaking?

-The staircase is definitely going to be a challenge.

But when you're trying to save the ghost villages of Europe, barely a day goes by without the need to find a solution to something.

And Lolly has every confidence in Robert.

-Building a staircase from scratch is extremely expensive.

Because of the engineering in this particular staircase in the tower, it's not your straightforward run of a staircase, so it's not just sharp lines.

It needs to follow the curves of the tower itself.

Everything is bespoke, but it's something that actually has to happen.

It has to be elegant.

And the thing that really lights up this property itself was the tower.

So we need to grace it with a lovely staircase.

-It's December, and Rob has brought his two sons, Ross and Scott, to see the houses he's bought in Bulgaria for the first time.

The glory days of Golyamo Krushevo were in the 1950s, but for the last 30 years it's been on a downward spiral, and now the village is a shadow of its former self.

Rob hopes his boys will be able to ignore the decay and see the possibilities in just the same way he can.

-Hopefully they're quite excited.

Um.

Are you?

-Wee bit.

-What about you?

-I'm excited.

-Excited to see them.

Just investigate.

-See what I've wasted my money on.

-Yeah.

-[ Laughs ] -Where we going first?

-The first house they visit is the first one Rob bought for £3,000 from eBay.

-There we go.

There you go, boys.

-Oh, this is nice.

Nice.

What's in here?

Oh, Ross, come in here.

-Do you like it?

-Yeah.

-What's your first impressions?

-Me?

-Yeah.

You see any potential?

-A little bit.

[ Speaks indistinctly ] -[ Laughs ] -There are three rooms upstairs and three downstairs, but there's no bathroom or kitchen or anything else to indicate what each room was previously used for.

-From what I understand, no one's lived in this property for 25 years, um, give or take, but I don't know.

-You may need some new floorboards.

-Definitely.

-Rob's second property stands just across the road.

It's a traditional cottage, probably built in the 1920s, and Rob starts by showing the boys downstairs.

-What used to be in there?

-Originally, I suppose... -Yeah.

-...they all lived upstairs.

-Why?

-Downstairs here... -Yeah.

-...it was where they kept the animals.

-While they were living upstairs?

-Well, you wouldn't want a goat living in your living room, would you?

-I would.

-[ Laughs ] -In the past, traditional Bulgarian houses often had space for sheep and goats on the ground floor, and the people lived upstairs.

It meant the animals could be fed easily in winter, and the heat they generated rose up through the building.

The exterior staircase is also a very typical feature.

-Just wait.

Let me go out first.

-Upstairs there are four rooms, including a kitchen and two bedrooms.

But Rob's first job will be to clear out all the old bric-a-brac.

-There's loads of old books, newspapers.

It's -- [ Chuckles ] It's just a shame.

These houses should be preserved.

The history in them, it's -- it's mad.

Needless to say.

What can you do?

I'm going to jump.

-The third property Rob needs to show the boys is the one in the best condition.

Thought to have been built in the 1940s, it has extensive grounds where he could grow vegetables.

It has an outside bathroom, too, but Scott and Ross aren't particularly impressed by that.

-Jump in, go on.

Look, it's a proper shower.

That's your toilet.

-No, no.

-Oh, God.

-[ Laughs ] I thought that was the best part of the house when I seen it.

I was like, "I can't believe it."

-Inside, it's much more habitable than Rob's other two properties in the village.

And it's structurally sound.

-Oh, we've got -- We've got power.

And here is where the guests would sleep.

Got a little bit of TV.

-They where still living it until the day that we signed the -- the deed on it.

-It's still full of clutter, but once it's cleared, the house will give Rob and his family a place to live while they renovate.

-Obviously, we need to clear it out.

It's just all about cutting costs down.

If we've you've got somewhere to stay, then we don't need to pay for hotels.

We've got cooking facilities here.

Um...

It's ideal.

-Despite the colossal amount of work that lies ahead, Rob can't wait to get started.

And he's supremely optimistic about the decision he's made to invest in Golyamo, Krushevo.

-I fell in love with this village the day I arrived.

I was always told invest in bricks and mortar.

You'll never lose.

So let's take a gamble.

-Coming up, Ted and Lisa's tea party could be lacking a vital ingredient.

-I've definitely got enough of everything, I've made sure of it, other than tea.

Hopefully they'll only have...

I would imagine a couple of cups of tea.

-And Rob starts the renovation project of a lifetime.

-I'm not a builder, I'm not a brickie, I'm not a plasterer.

I've never done this before.

-Back in the Limousin, Ted and Lisa's afternoon tea party is about to start.

The couple are under pressure not only because they hope it might become a regular event, but also because they need to raise funds for the next phase of renovations, like the piggery and the derelict towers in the grounds.

-Can't have afternoon tea without Victoria sponge.

-They're hoping to host about 50 people today, but Lisa's a bit concerned she might run out of a key item on the menu.

-I've definitely got enough of everything, I've made sure of it, other than tea.

[ Laughs ] We have tea, we just don't have much of it.

You can have champagne on arrival, so hopefully they only have...

I would imagine a couple of cups of tea.

So, it's a -- it's a case of rationing.

[ Laughs ] -Luckily, Ted and Lisa won't be on their own.

They've recruited an army of volunteers.

And after a quick briefing... -Thank you first of all, for coming to help.

-...the first guests start to arrive.

-Hello.

Nice to meet you all.

-Hello.

Thank you for coming.

-The people have started arriving early, as always, and I need to get cooking.

But we need to get the champagne.

-Yay!

-There you go.

I'll leave you to it, and I'll -- Ooh!

First pop.

First pop of the day.

-Ted's bespoke stands and Lisa's handmade cakes seem to be going down a treat.

-I'm just really pleased that the first course is now out.

They came in, they had champagne, they've had their tea and coffee, they've got their first course.

-But it looks like there could be a cat among the pigeons.

-You know the French lady on her own?

-Yeah.

-You think she's a food critic?

-Oh, sh-- crap.

-[ Laughs ] -Oh.

-Yeah.

We don't know.

She's sitting, writing notes.

Um, she's writing lots of notes.

And as she's eating, she's examining quite well.

-Oh, goodness.

-And tasting very slowly.

-Oh, goodness me.

-Oh, how nerve-racking.

-Lisa has no trouble coping with the extra pressure, though, and the proof is in the pudding.

-Everyone's been fed and watered so I could breathe now.

I think it's gone down well, plates coming back empty.

So that says it all, really, doesn't it?

And, uh, we haven't run out of tea yet.

Yet.

[ Laughs ] -It was really lovely.

Yeah, lovely.

Loads and loads of food.

All delicious.

And bubbly went down pretty well.

-Yeah.

Very well, in fact.

-It was exceptional, wasn't it?

-It was outstanding.

-The food was lovely, the entertainment.

It was just perfect -- Perfect day.

-Yeah.

-So hopefully we'll come back and stay with them.

-Next week.

-Yeah.

-Hello, my dears.

-As well as empty plates and an overnight booking, Ted and Lisa have even managed to impress their mystery diner, although it turns out she wasn't a food critic after all.

-No.

She wasn't a critique.

[ Laughs ] Could have found out beforehand then I wouldn't have been so nervous, but thank God she's not a critique.

Then again, it might have been quite nice.

Um, but yeah, yeah, she seems like a really lovely lady and she just moved into the village, so hopefully she'll go and have a little chat with the village and let them know that afternoon tea at the chateau is very, very, very good.

-Afternoon tea at Montmagner has been both a critical and a commercial success.

-Take care!

-The money raised will be a huge boost to Ted and Lisa's renovation fund as they try to complete work on the hamlet.

-It was a really good event, I think, to kick off the year.

Everybody was asking me about future events, what's going, coming forward.

So, yeah.

-It couldn't have gone any better.

And the weather was spectacular.

-Yeah.

-It's a spectacular spring day.

-Days like this are a reminder that saving the ghost villages of Europe isn't just about bricks and mortar.

For people like Ted and Lisa, it's also about breathing new life into communities.

And by bringing people together in Montmagner, it means the hamlet really is flourishing again.

It's April in Golyamo Krushevo, and Rob has taken some holiday leave from his job as a delivery driver in Scotland, and flown back to Bulgaria to start renovating.

He has three properties in the village, but his focus today is the house he bought from the internet for £3,000.

It was definitely a bargain, but it's been empty for at least 25 years and the roof has been leaking.

So the first thing Rob needs to do is assess how much damage that has been to the floors and the ceilings.

-The first course of action to get done by a professional is the roof.

Then we'll do the windows, providing the floors are safe for the man to work on.

If not, then roof, floors, and then windows.

-He's going to work on the ground floor ceiling this morning, which is covered in chipboard panels.

They've probably been put up to stop draughts, but they aren't quite in keeping with the original aesthetics.

-Once we take all this stuff off and hopefully the beams aren't rotted, we can treat them and it'll just be a lovely feature on the house.

How old are they?

Someone put them in by hand, you know.

So, lovely feature.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ They've really have done it.

This stuff, to me, is tacky.

But that's how some people want to do it.

-The chipboard is coming away easily enough, but decades of dust are proving to be a real hazard.

And Rob soon discovers that the beams aren't exactly secure.

-Look.

That is a mad.

-To fully assess the state of the timbers, Rob's going to expose them from upstairs too.

And here, the floor is definitely a throwback to a bygone age.

-That's a beam.

-It's made in the traditional Bulgarian way from mud, sand, and clay, and it will all need digging out.

Flaws like this are typical in rural villages.

Not only were they cheap, but they were also a surprisingly effective form of insulation.

One of the benefits of Rob buying houses that haven't been cleared out yet is that he can put to use the various tools that have been left behind.

-Oh, don't you break on me.

♪♪ It snapped.

-The trouble is, they aren't all in the best condition.

Luckily, there are plenty more tools to choose from.

And this time, Rob has found something with a bit of umph.

-[ Speaks indistinctly ] I'm gonna class that.

Haven't all day, aye.

-But before Rob can finish the floor, there's a problem with the ceiling.

Beneath the thin layer of plaster, there's an aging mesh of twigs used as insulation that's now brittle and needs replacing.

♪♪ -We've got over halfway with the floor and we have to stop because of the ceiling.

When we started taking the floor more, and the ceiling started coming down.

♪♪ -Rob is feeling the pressure.

-Uh, I didn't realize how hard this was going to be.

[ Speaks indistinctly ] -He needs a break and the chance to regather his strength.

-I'm not a builder, I'm not a brickie, I'm not a plasterer.

I've never done this before.

Oh.

-Rob invested in Golyamo Krushevo in the hope of owning property to pass on to his children.

And because he dreamed of resurrecting a forgotten corner of Europe.

But as other village saviors know, it's a mammoth task, and Rob's only just beginning to appreciate how much time, energy, and money it will take.

As he looks towards the future, though, he's still optimistic and determined to see his project through.

-I've had my highs and I've had my lows, right?

I'm missing my family, but I'm also on a high as well because I'm achieving stuff.

We're getting to see these floors, we're getting to see how they built the house back when it was originally built.

I'm having a good laugh along the way.

-Coming up, Ted and Lisa reach a milestone in the piggeries.

-This is the best thing in the world.

-Cheers.

-Cheers, my darling.

-Cheers.

To us.

-Happy days.

-And at La Galiserie, the floors are about to get a makeover.

-Oh, my God, it's massive!

-So, our cement mixer has just turned up and it's -- As Lolly just shouted out, "It's enormous!"

♪♪ -At La Galiserie, it's the end of October.

Nine months into Lolly and Sean's massive restoration project.

And there's been a major development.

-So it's been exciting over the last couple of weeks.

Um, because we finally moved out of our barn area where we were living in, and we've actually gone into the house, so things are progressing quite quickly.

-It's really exciting and although we've got to wait another 4 or 5 months for our windows and doors, it's starting to feel like a home now.

-Lolly and Sean's bedroom is on the first floor in the main building.

It isn't quite finished yet, and since the stairs in the watchtower aren't either, the couple still can't go to sleep without trekking up a side road and climbing a ladder.

But the bedroom has definitely had the Lolly treatment.

-So this is our master bedroom, um, and this has massively changed when we moved in last week, was just an awesome feeling.

And just to get the, um, the vibe of the building as well, because we -- we haven't had that.

It will be absolutely stunning when it's completely finished.

This is our en suite.

Now we have a bath in situ.

We did all the picking and pointing on the walls.

We spent about three days, um, chipping it out.

-The fixtures and fittings in the bathroom haven't yet been plumbed in, but it's easy to imagine how it will look when everything's finished.

-Lolly's spraying everything gold 'cause this is a gold themed room.

So she's around spraying everything.

If it stands still for too long, it turns gold.

So, yeah, just keep moving.

-Lolly and Sean are trying to do what they can themselves, but some jobs like underfloor heating, are best left to the professionals.

-It's going to be a massive day for us.

We're having our screed poured, um, so we can then go over the top of our underfloor heating, move forward, and then we can start trying to put our kitchen into the house, which would be a massive step forward.

-The heating system and the concrete pour are costing over £10,000, but Lolly and Sean will eventually have paying guests.

And keeping warm in a medieval building is no mean feat.

When it was built, the hardy folk who lived here had to rely on open fires.

And while the wealthy landowner probably didn't need to worry about fuel rationing, the farm workers almost certainly did.

-Oh, my God, it's massive!

-So, our cement mixer has just turned up and it's -- As Lolly just shouted out, "It's enormous!"

So, um, yeah, just getting in position and then we're going to start, which will be amazing.

-This is -- It's a really exciting day.

-The surface area downstairs is 1,000 square meters.

Um, so yeah, there will be a lot of concrete poured in, and, um, these guys are going to be very busy.

-It's looking good.

Although I think we might have lost our electrical points in the snug.

-No, they put the -- -Oh, have they?

-They put cans on it.

-Yeah.

I can't see the cans.

-Oh.

-[ Laughs ] -That'll be fun.

-Anyway, it doesn't matter.

If they've gone over it, we'll have another plan.

-[ Laughs ] -Really exciting.

-I know, crazy.

-This is great.

Very speedy work, isn't it?

-After a few hours, the last bit of floor is covered in cement and the pour is complete.

-It's looking fantastic.

Yeah, looking really good.

They've done a great job.

Now we seal it and wait seven days.

-The entrance is boarded up to make sure nobody walks on the concrete with two legs, or four legs, before it's set.

And after a quick wash down, the empty cement truck is on its way.

-We've been told five days to keep it completely sealed, but we're going to go for seven just to make sure everything's perfect.

It's been a fantastic day.

Massive tick of the box.

And another stage where we've completed, and we can move on to the next bit of it.

-It's almost a year since Lolly and Sean arrived in La Galiserie, and their enthusiasm for this forgotten village shows no sign of wavering.

The couple have given new life to the medieval walls.

They've insulated roofs.

-Yes, really good.

-And dug trenches and landscaped the grounds.

Rooms that had laid empty for years have been cleared out and brought back to life.

-And we've just turned it into -Another drinking-- -A drinking area, basically.

-Lolly and Sean may have started out as DIY novices, but they aren't anymore.

And at the halfway stage in their two-year project, they're exactly where they hoped they would be.

-We are building a house.

-Yeah.

-It's huge, but we're doing it for us.

You know, we're building our dream and -- and it's looking pretty good.

-There's still a way to go, but La Galiserie is in safe hands as it begins a whole new chapter in its life under the care and love of its dedicated saviors.

About two hours drive southeast of La Galiserie, two other village saviors have reached a milestone of their own.

The piggery that Ted and Lisa have been renovating over the last nine months is almost complete.

They've recently added three VELUX windows, tiled the floor, and added electric sockets and lighting.

Since they've been able to do most of the work themselves, it's cost them under 5,000 euros -- a fraction of what it would have been if they'd had to rely on professionals.

-Well, it's been a bit mad, hasn't it, this last week.

-We haven't stopped at 8:00 in the morning until 10:00 at night.

-It's been a bit crazy.

-Yeah, yeah, it's coming to a conclusion.

-It is.

-We've got a few things to do.

Um, I reckon a good day.

We have a good day today.

We shall get everything sorted.

-Their mission today is to finally move out of their tent and into a proper bedroom.

And Ted's first job is a crown that will go above the bed.

It's the top of an old wardrobe, and he's using a technique called a French cleat to fix it to the wall.

-So fingers crossed.

-Both the baton on the wall and the wood at the back of the crown have been cut at the 45 degree angles, so they should slot together perfectly.

-Yeah, it ain't going anywhere.

Oof!

-[ Laughs ] -Ted is worried that it doesn't quite fit, though.

-Yeah, it's not heavy.

Although it does hurt when you hit your head with it.

-But after a quick trip to the workshop, it's second time lucky.

-It looks great.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Lovely.

I'm glad we remembered we had that.

-Happy with that?

-Yeah.

-Thank God for that.

-Very happy.

[ Laughs ] -Lisa now has to make the drape from a long length of velvet fabric she's picked up from a local brocante.

-It's always a bit of a hit and miss with this 'cause I don't really know what I'm doing, so you just kind of do what you think and hope for the best.

-Despite her concerns, it doesn't take her long to stitch it together.

And when it's hung from Ted's crown, it's a perfect addition to the medieval stone walls.

-I love that crown.

-It works really well, doesn't it?

-Yeah, and it looks beautiful.

-I'm glad.

-The next job is to make a bed.

And although they aren't doing it from scratch this time... -Oh!

One missing there.

-...putting it together isn't straightforward.

-Are you in, your side?

-Yeah.

I'm just gonna get one in.

-Is that the right way up?

-Oh, no, it's the other way up.

[ Laughs ] -Luckily, Ted and Lisa have been overcoming DIY challenges for the last three years, so they aren't about to be defeated.

-Well, hey, look at that!

-Once they've dragged a mattress from the second floor in the tower... -Why don't you get out?

-I'm trying.

-"I'm trying."

-...and Ted has hung a door on a rail... -The door's down.

-...the bedroom just requires some final magic touches from Lisa.

-It's just beautiful.

Oh, I just thing it's beautiful.

-Yeah.

-I think it's absolutely beautiful.

-It's now just over three years since Ted and Lisa arrived in Montmagner, and what they've done in the piggeries is yet another shining example of what our village saviors can achieve.

-We're in the oldest part of the estate.

This part of the estate dates back to the 12th century, and what we've done to it now, has saved it from going into a ruin.

I'd like to think that 100 years down the line, somebody is living in this going, "Oh, my God, this is 1,000 years old."

-Ted and Lisa have definitely breathed new life into every corner of Montmagner.

After standing empty for over a decade, the buildings have been transformed and the grounds remodeled into the perfect spot for an afternoon tea.

The next phase is to turn an old barn into a banqueting hall, and it won't be easy.

But if anybody can pull it off, Ted and Lisa can.

They're still brimming with determination and feel they owe it to Montmagner of the past, the present, and the future.

-I just think it can only get better from now on.

Yeah, we're gonna face challenges, we always do.

But you just get up and get on with it because this is the end result.

This is the best thing in the world.

-Cheers.

-Cheers, my darling.

-Cheers.

To us.

-Happy days.

Yeah.

-I love you.

-I love you, too.

-Now we get to sleep.

-Yeah.

Can I go to sleep?

This is really absolutely superbly comfortable.

I think I'll get used to this.

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