Seems that perhaps, your response and Stella’s suggest that 20 years has made a wonderful, significant difference in the health of Villieres, if indeed as that old article suggested, it was on the downswing back then.
Anyway.
I feel rather hopeful, for some reason, after receiving your responses to this older article. 
Mary… if you want to research a bit… to be somewhat up to date…
Google the place-name and check the various bits and bobs…always something of interest to be found.
The Mairie website will give certain aspects… and then go onto tourism etc etc… 
Thanks Stella. Of course, that makes sense. Posting here is part of my ongoing research; don’t mean to make it look as if my questions are meant to ask for complete answers from others… Perhaps my questions and posts sometimes do seem that way. Will try to pay more attention. Cheers.
Keep asking the questions Mary… always happy to add my twopenn’orth of ideas … really enjoying hearing about your French “possibilities”…
It is a nuisance if a place does not have a website… but then, the local-newspaper websites can offer some hope…on occasions. 
Our commune is too small to have a webpage and the papers are not interested in printing our local stuff… so it looks as if our last “happening” was the Mayor’s Speech at the beginning of January. Anyone researching us… will think us real dead-ends indeed…
I’m thoroughly enjoying your search for just the right place, for you…
I found an article about the 222 towns that France has designated to ‘rejuvenate’.
See this link… Mary… 