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--- Who We Are & What We Offer ---
Hi, we’re Scott and Alex, originally Australian and French. After living and working on almost every continent, we decided to settle in two beautiful parts of the world. For the past few years, we’ve been renovating an abandoned property in Montenegro, and now we’re starting a new challenge:
We recently purchased a beautiful but abandoned stone estate in Dordogne, nestled on one hectare of land bordering a forest. The property includes several dwellings with many rooms, hasn’t been lived in for five years, is cluttered with the previous owner’s belongings, and has a few leaks. Our goal is to restore it to the beauty it truly deserves!
We split our time between Montenegro and France, learning every day how to live closer to the land and become more sustainable. In Montenegro, we live semi off-grid and love sharing our simple, authentic, and active lifestyle with visitors from around the world. We enjoy cooking good food from scratch, playing music (Scott plays guitar, and we love jamming together!), exploring the outdoors through walks, wild swimming, or simply relaxing in peaceful natural surroundings.
Dordogne is one of the most beautiful regions of France, known for its stunning medieval villages, lively markets, rich gastronomy, history, nature, and culture. The area also has a vibrant international community, which we really enjoy being part of!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Sustainability
Self development
Politics / Social justice
Pets
Farming
Events & social
Culture
Charity work
Plant care
Photography
Music
History
Gardening
Drawing & painting
DIY & crafts
Cooking & food
Carpentry
Books
Art & design
Architecture
Animals
Yoga / Wellness
Winter sports
Outdoor activities
Nature
Adventure sports
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We truly love the Workaway concept and have been hosting guests for eight years now. Sharing skills, life perspectives, cultures, and experiences — sometimes playing music together, exploring the area, and swapping stories and laughs — is something we really cherish. On top of that, Workaway guests help us tackle big projects, keeping us motivated as we make progress and enjoy the results together. Over the years, we’ve made lifelong friends among the wonderful people we’ve hosted.
We’re open to learning anything new and enjoy passing on our skills and life stories to our guests:
Scott is handy with tools, enjoys playing guitar and singing, and knows quite a bit about plants and wildlife from spending time outdoors. He’s trained in carpentry and engineering, can do some welding, and has an interest in history and archaeology—plus, he brings a relaxed Aussie sense of humor.
Alexandra is creative and loves looking after her Montenegrin chickens and rabbits, and work in the garden. She spends time painting, trying out new crafts, fixing things, and decorating. She has a background in project management, and environmental work.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
It was love at first sight. Then, on second sight, we realized this gorgeous property—abandoned for five years—needed a serious dose of TLC: cleaning, painting, sanding, moving furniture, gardening, weeding, wrestling a sofa back into place, more cleaning, hauling soil and heavy stuff, decorating, and basically turning chaos into charm. But hey, making the place beautiful is always totally worth it by the end of the day!
--- How We Work ---
We plan to work roughly from 10 am to 1 pm, take a lunch break, then work again from 2 pm to 4 pm, about five days a week—depending on how intense the work is, the weather, etc
Once or twice a week, we take an afternoon off to go explore the area or go on a picnic together.
For short-term stays, Scott usually cooks delicious dinners that we share together in the big house. Lunches are simple—think wraps and such—and we provide breakfast supplies for our Workaway guests in their own house.
For longer stays, we typically give our Workaway guests a weekly allowance so they can cook for themselves in their kitchen. We also invite each other to dinner several times a week to eat together.
And those who don’t cook? Well, they do the dishes! 😜
We provide three meals a day or a food allowance on working days.
Guests are welcome to stay in the tiny house on their days off and take care of their own meals.
Scott is famous for cooking incredibly tasty, flavorful meals! Most are not vegetarian, so if you’re vegetarian, you’ll probably cook for yourself—but of course, we can still eat together!
--- Who We Are Looking For ---
We are seeking Workawayers who are genuinely interested in our project and eager to discover and share our alternative lifestyle. You should enjoy working both outdoors and indoors and not be afraid of a few insects or thorny bushes! :-)
We prefer couples, as they tend to be more independent, and those with their own transportation for the same reason—but this is not an absolute requirement.
Ideally, we welcome Workawayers with some life experience (minimum 25 years old), who are proactive, self-motivated, creative, have good problem-solving skills, and possess a fair amount of common sense.
We especially appreciate guests with handy skills like woodworking, as we often have small projects that need the right expertise, but this is not essential.
We’re looking for Workawayers who speak English well enough to have meaningful conversations, since Scott doesn’t speak French very well yet, and it’s much nicer for everyone to be able to chat together! :-)
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Does is sound appealing to you? Send us a message telling us what are your motivations to apply, skills you can share and availability to be with us.
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Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Accommodation
The property has lots of beds so you'll get your own bedroom, bathroom in a quite environment.
You'll also have your own equipped kitchen and living area.
We will be heating ourselves with firewood in the winter, the chimney is located in the living area.
---What To Take With You ---
OCTOBER - MAY
good rainproof jacket and shoes
warm clothes for chill evenings
slippers for indoors
torch (headlight recommended)
JUNE - SEPTEMBER
hat or clothes that protect you from the sun
good pair of shoes to work outdoors
slippers for indoors
torch (headlight recommended)
NB: We will work with the first Workaway's to clean and tidy up the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom in the guest area as they haven't been used for a while.
What else ...
There is a small train station just 10 minutes dirve form the property, and we'll run errands to the nearby towns and villages regularly.
We don’t smoke and aren’t keen on cigarette smoke, but we welcome occasional smokers.
There won’t be internet access at the start of the project, so make sure you have internet in your phone before you arrive if you need it.
If you have a van, we can find a spot on the land where you can park it.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
We don't have internet access yet, so it would be good for you to have a French (e-)SIM card if you wish to be connected during your stay. We have space for one campervan outside, and use of a bathroom inside one house.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Photos
