To complement Jane’s map to 2010, here is a heat map projection for the next 25 years or so…and personally I’m relieved to be living
near the Normandy coast, disliking heat…
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Seems like the SW is getting a bit cooler then.
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It was the view and the surrounding space, plus sufficient parking.
The house wasn’t big enough so we had to convert other buildings.
Wouldn’t move now unless absolutely forced to.
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We were delighted with the greenery and rolling hills, as we approached the village. The Agent’s car swept round yet another bend… into a small area and we saw the house we’d been closely scrutinizing over the web… Seeing the house “in the flesh” we both knew we would buy it even before we got out of the car.
Love at first sight.
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My immediate reaction was yuk, no - till we emerged in the attic and I saw the amazing roof timbers, each frame still carved with its number. Suddenly I knew I wanted this house!
The biggest change I have made is to open the house up to get more light - new windows in two rooms (similar to the existing windows), a huge new window where there was only chicken wire in the sechoir, new roof lights, and a couple of walled-up doors reopened. It’s all taking far too long but the house and I now have a real history together and I feel that I’m gradually nurturing it back to life.
However, instant ‘no’ is a much more common response. 
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Everyone is different but I will say up front that here in France you have far more possibility of finding that special place, not just because of affordability but also the plethora of character properties that are available.
We came looking in 2014 but just looking and with no intention of buying. We contacted some agents, including Jaqui Reddin-Williams at Beau-Villages, and made clear to them that we did not want to waste their time and were just aiming to get a feel for the market, nothing else.
We told Jaqui the sort of place we were interested in and stated firmly that she must not show us anywhere with a pool, as I didn’t want one and would have to factor in the cost of filling it in, as well as the headache of doing so. She told us she wanted to show us 5 properties and set aside a day to visit them.
The very first property, as we stopped at the gate, she said “I know you said no pool, but I just love this place and I think you will too.” I was initially irritated but she was right. The house had sold but the sale had fallen through and there was a possibility of buying at the upper end of our budget but much lower than the previous selling price and the (French) sellers were moving to South America imminently so were anxious to sell.
Jaqui had us read so perfectly. The pool itself wasn’t an attraction, but the house was something we felt an emotional pull from right from the moment we walked through the door. It just felt right and was like putting on a much loved glove. We saw the other 4 properties but didn’t feel anything at all, despite them being similar in some ways (all 150yr old character stone properties). We made an offer the following day and moved here a year later when my wife retired.
It is a different process for everyone but we have been delighted, not least because we have the neighbours from heaven living next door who have become like family (the matriarch was born in their house nearly 90 years ago). And, yes, we kept the pool, yes it is a pain at times and a drain on funds, but yes it is lovely to cool off in the long hot Charente Maritime summers.
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It’s the Charente that I’m coming out to, I’ve noticed quite a few properties have pools so it’s obviously warm in the summer. But like you I don’t want a pool, just an art studio 
Maybe because we moved from home and country every few years over four decades, I don’t have much of an emotional attachment to property. Buying our own home, my initial reactions are can I / need I redesign this, quickly followed by will it be easily sellable in a few years.
I would dearly like to make a romantic attachment but I’m afraid that my perfect house may have been the one that got away during Covid. Or, perhaps we just haven’t found our forever home yet.
I moved a lot with my job, 12 times in 26 years. For a lot of that time I had my French holiday home as a constant. I actually lived in some lovely places but I was glad when the day that I could move here full time arrived.
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I’ll be honest. I spend more time in the pool cleaning it than I do swimming, but I enjoy it more than I thought I would. As for hot summers, depends what you are used to of course and we are just 15 minutes from the coast so the heat is tempered a little by the sea, but it is still often in the 30s.
Living surrounded by vines is a real delight - always brings a smile to my face driving back through them and seeing just how hard the vignerons work to keep them in shape, even if this is more Cognac country and the winemaking is not quite so precious.
As I love cooking, the other big selling point for us beyond the house itself was the huge summer kitchen next to the pool. We hardly ever eat up at the house in the summer (and we eat well).
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