Long-term French resident and father of four, Toby Morgan, likes nothing more than taking on a new project and his latest challenge, the design and construction of a mini-golf course in the world-famous seaside resort of Hossegor in south-west France is probably his biggest to date.
Originally from Buckinghamshire, former city trader Toby has a deep affinity with France and all things French, which he says comes from spending numerous holidays at his parents’ holiday home in Bidarray, in the beautiful PyrénéesAtlantiques department of NouvelleAquitaine. His parents have owned their property since 1990 and by 2002, Toby had decided to invest in his own maison secondaire in France.
Toby loves the outdoors and opted for the Landes department as it ticked all his boxes, providing easy access to stunning walking trails in the Pyrénées and world-class surfing beaches. As a keen golfer, the numerous golf courses in the area were also a factor, so he bought a beachside property in Hossegor.
HOUSE TO HOME
Holidays soon proved to be not enough and with a growing young family, Toby was keen for the children, Tashan, 17, Leon, 14, Audrey, 12 and Carmen, five, to benefit from all the advantages of living in France. So, three years later in 2005, the family moved over full time.
Despite appreciating the slower pace of life in France, Toby was soon looking for a new challenge and almost immediately got involved in a property development project in Contis, a nearby beach resort. With this first project under his belt, Toby took on the renovation of a large farmhouse in Pey before then deciding to rent out his original purchase during the summer months.
Having run this for several years as an extremely successful holiday rental business, in 2017, Toby decided to sell up and do something completely different.
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