At 56, I bought a chateau in France. I never imagined I'd spend my midlife creating my dream home and business.

Buying a property in France while in my 50s helped me find renovation and community in new ways. Courtesy of Abigail Carter In my 50s, I left the US to buy a property in France, renovate it, and create a new business. After years of hard work, I've turned an old estate into a haven for creative retreats. This journey has been challenging and surprising, but I'm grateful for the midlife reinvention. In May 2022, I found myself longing for a new life. I had spent the last 20 years rebuilding my life after my husband's death in the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks — raising a 2-year-old and 6-year-old alone, moving across the country to Seattle, writing books about grief, and rediscovering painting. My kids had both finished college and moved on with their lives, and I was alone and free for the first time since my 20s. I felt adrift. Then, my daughter showed me a YouTube video about a young couple with two small children renovating a chateau in France. They reminded me of my husband and me long ago, and how we'd renovated historic houses in cities like London and Boston while raising young children. As newlyweds, we'd dreamed about one day living somewhere in Europe, maybe a small cottage in the French countryside, but it became a faraway fantasy when he was relocated to the US for work. After watching those videos, that dream came bubbling back — and I realized now might be the perfect time to start chasing it. I headed to France in hopes of buying a place of my own that I could turn into a retreat space for creatives Looking for a property and navigating French bureaucracy wasn't always easy. Courtesy of Abigail Carter I loved the idea of renovating a property in a place I'd dreamed about living while also following my passion for art and connection. I was lonely in Seattle, and I longed to create a space abroad that inspired people to gather, reflect, dream, and start fresh. My vague idea was to find a place where I could host creative retreats for writers and artists. So, single and in my late 50s, I planned a trip to France to explore historic buildings for sale. Visiting historic properties while enjoying the French countryside was a perfect form of solo travel for me. I decided to look for properties with multiple bedrooms that didn't need overly extensive renovations, weren't far from international transportation, and were located in an area that wouldn't get too cold in the winter. Toulouse seemed a perfect place to start. For three weeks, I drove over 600 miles looking at chateaux, manor houses, and farmhouses — many dilapidated, or near busy highways or in the middle of nowhere. I spoke with real-estate agents every day and veered off the road several times to peer through the gates of beautiful properties. I returned to Seattle empty-handed, expecting that the desire to buy a chateau would have fizzled — instead, the flames were fanned. The retreat center idea became more solidly embedded in my mind, and within the year, I was back, visiting more potential properties. At last, I stumbled upon a dilapidated manor house nestled into limestone cliffs, where the outbuildings were actual caves. After seeing it online, I convinced my real-estate agent to leave his locale and show me the property. I knew Château de Borie was the one. Courtesy of Abigail Carter Château de Borie in the Lot and Garonne region in southwestern France, between Toulouse and Bordeaux, had been unoccupied for several years. It had 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms, and, more importantly, new septic, electrical, plumbing, and heating systems. After viewing more than 15 properties over two separate trips, I knew having these updated essentials in place in an older building was a rare gift. I told myself the property was in a state I could manage on my own — it just needed an interior facelift and some furniture. I offered below asking price for Château de Borie. Courtesy of Abigail Carter After a one-hour viewing, I impulsively made a low-ball offer, nearly 70,000 euros below the asking price. Within 30 minutes, we had settled on the price of 610,000 euros. I was unable to schedule a return visit before my flight the next day, so I relied on the few photos I took to remind me what I was getting myself into. As I moved forward with buying a property and making a business plan, I still had doubts I didn't get to see the property very much before I purchased it. Courtesy of Abigail Carter Back home in Seattle, I questioned my sanity as I arranged to have 50 pages of French legal documents translated. I took out a home equity loan on my Seattle home, which, with some additional savings, would allow me to pay for the house in cash, since getting a loan in France would be extremely difficult. To help obtain a visa, I had to create a business plan for my ill-conceived retreat idea in order to get a "real and serious business" certificate, a name I found humorous. As silly as this sounded, doing this helped me solidify my visio