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He first arrived in south west
France some years earlier,
from his native Brighton for a
building job. He loved the area
and stayed on to restore old
buildings before selling them.
By the time Trevor bought
Fontmorte, his daytime job was
as a building materials reclamation specialist and a property
redeveloper.
This led to seeking a better
way of buying and selling
houses - and the foundation
stones for what has become
Leggett Immobilier today. "It's
so important to work for the
vendor properly. It's not just
about the purchaser. Each party
needs a personalised service,"
he says.
"Back then, there were few
truly bilingual agents. At the
same time, the internet was a
new tool. My business partner
was a wonderful Dutchman
called Leo Osseweijer, who
has sadly passed. Together, we
identified the internet as the
ideal tool." Of course we all use
the internet as our first point
INSPIRING PEOPLE LEGGETT MAGAZINE
of call, but in 1997 it was still a
new concept. "We established
the website frenchestateagents.
com. This led to our Leggett
website, which is now one of
the best known and most visited sites for
any English speaker
seeking to buy in France. It's
a real competitive edge for us
and the ideal selling tool for
any vendor."
A few years later he first
met his wife, Joanna, when he
showed her a wreck of a house
in nearby Marthon.
Joanna had been working
for Capital Radio in London.
She came to France to visit her
Dordogne-based brother and
fell in love with the country
and lifestyle. In turn, Trevor fell
for her. She bought the house,
rolled up her sleeves and renovated it within a year!
The rest,
as they say, is history.
Their skill sets are very
complementary - both in
creating a fabulous home and
building the business. Today
Joanna is the public face of
Leggett, while Trevor remains
its driving force. At Fontmorte
both of them continue to work
on their wonderful home. Walking around
the garden with
Joanna, she reels off the name
of every tree she's planted,
while Trevor's creation is
the marvellous 'bones' of
the house. This includes the
L-shaped orangery he designed
around two sides of their home
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The striking
painting is the work
of a Dordogne based
Russian artist
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The pretty garden
attracts an array of
wildlife