Two Americans Made Their Dreams Come True in Normandy, France

David Lotton is a European history buff, but he’d never set foot outside the United States until 2004, when he traveled to France for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.

Walking into the vast cemeteries commemorating the thousands of young soldiers who died storming the beaches during World War II, he felt a big knot in his stomach. “It was pretty overpowering,” said Mr. Lotton, an engineer originally from Kansas, who was 39 at the time and had spent six years as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army Reserve.

The trip changed his life, and he began thinking about one day moving to France — though it often felt impossible. “I didn’t grow up in a rich family and I’ve never had a lot of money,” said Mr. Lotton, who turned 60 this year and was living in Colorado. “I never thought that would be something attainable for me.”

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After the worst of the pandemic, Mr. Lotton and his wife, Cynthia Ferrer, 63, a software engineer who retired this spring, made several trips to France, exploring different regions to see if there was a home they could buy there.

Ms. Ferrer said they were struck by how affordable some aspects of life were in France compared with the United States. And the best bits were free: the medieval towns they could explore, the miles of coastline and the country roads lined with hedgerows that they biked along.

“We just walk around with our jaws hanging open,” Ms. Ferrer said. “The history, the architecture. It just seems to have so much texture and depth that the United States doesn’t have.”

Ms. Ferrer loves skiing and mountain biking, and was pining for a place in the Alps. Mr. Lotton liked the idea of buying an old farmhouse with a garage and maybe a barn in the seaside Normandy region. He had spent some time working in construction in his 20s, and he imagined himself restoring their home and maybe fixing up old cars in the outbuildings.

Eventually they reached a compromise: They would search for a place in Normandy near a train station, so they could travel to the mountains and other European spots. They also wanted an extra bedroom or two to host friends and family, and they liked the idea of having both a walkable neighborhood and a parking space for a car.

The couple found house hunting to be very different in France than in the United States. Some properties weren’t listed on the internet at all, only in the windows of real estate agencies. In a way, it was part of the charm. “I liked that it felt a little antiquated,” said Ms. Ferrer of the search.

To fund the purchase, Ms. Ferrer sold a two-bedroom vacation condominium in Breckenridge, Colo., for $565,000 that she bought in 2017. Then they set their budget for their France home at 400,000 euros — about $465,000 — “with some wiggle room,” Ms. Ferrer said.

They also spent weeks researching how to obtain long-stay visas in France, which allows recipients to stay for one year and is renewable. They learned they had to show proof of assets and write a hand-written note promising they would not work in France. With hindsight, they said, the process was surprisingly seamless.

Then, this spring, they sold their main residence in Colorado. They were all in on France.

No. 1

Matthew Avignone for The New York Times

This five-bedroom, two-bath home from the 1930s was in Grandcamp-Maisy, a small fishing village not far from Utah Beach, the World War II allied landing spot, and had breathtaking sea views. The house featured herringbone wood floors, high ceilings, a curved wooden staircase and four fireplaces. The bathrooms and kitchen were dated and in need of renovations. And the village had few shops and no railway station. But the beach was right across the street, and on the day they visited, the views to the English channel were superb. The asking price was 400,000 euros (about $465,000). Real estate agents in the area said taxes on homes in this price range would be a few thousand euros per year at most.

David Lotton

No. 2

Matthew Avignone for The New York Times

This four-bedroom townhome, centuries old but newly remodeled, was in the town of Bayeux, famous for the tapestry that recounts the 1066 Norman conquest of England. A shoe store occupied the first floor, and the four-level home was above it. Inside was an open-plan kitchen, new bathrooms, exposed beams, a laundry room, floor-to-ceiling windows and a second-floor, street-facing balcony. The purchase included a parking spot in a nearby garage. The busy street below was dotted with shops, but the couple worried it would be too noisy. The coastline was about six miles away, and Bayeux offered a rail station. It was listed for 390,000 euros ($452,000).

David Lotton

No. 3

Matthew Avignone for The New York Times

The couple called this five-bedroom semidetached home in Bayeux the “tower house” because its staircase was in an internal tower with stained-glass windows. From the garden, there were views of Bayeux’s cathedral across the street. The house was a little awkward and needed some work, including in the living room, which had a mix of original wood flooring and vinyl. The kitchen had been renovated, though in a way that they felt didn’t match the rest of the house. But it was remarkably quiet and the overgrown backyard had potential as a place to garden and entertain. Even better, there were two small outbuildings that could house Mr. Lotton’s workshops. It was listed at 395,000 euros (about $458,000).

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Which Would You Choose?

Which Did They Buy?