I bought a derelict French chapel infested with bats for Channel 4 show, here’s how I turned it around for £100k
MUSICIAN Hēran Soun has opened up about how he turned a derelict French chapel into a functional hotel with a budget of only £100k.
The artist’s incredible undertaking is featured on the first season of new Channel 4 property show Help! We Bought a Hotel.
Producers were blown away by the renovation job Hēran did on the 12th century building, which was flooded and saw a ceiling cave in shortly after he bought it.
In an exclusive interview with the Sun, the musician said he decided to buy the historical property of La Boule d’Or after getting signed by a music label in France.
The formerly deaf artist received a large advance for This Is A Game, the album he is currently working on.
When he found a large piece of real estate for sale on what he affectionately dubbed “the French version of Gumtree”, Hēran instantly knew that’s what he wanted to splash the cash on.
He shared: “An old friend of mine, Boris, found this chapel on Le Bon Coin, which is basically Gumtree.
“I’ve only ever used Le Bon Coin to buy a toaster, which ended up being broken. It’s that kind of place where you can find your old stolen bicycle, you know, and buy it back.
“So it was a chapel, and had an auberge (French style inn) which had been built on the front of the chapel. Some of the bathrooms have the vaulted ceilings from the chapel.
“And then there was a conciergerie, which is a small two-bedroom house where the concierge used to live. There was another hotel in the courtyard, a more modern hotel, which had 11 bedrooms and a big garden.
“We bought everything included. And that was £250,000.”
At first it seemed like the two friends had struck gold with the find, but their luck soon turned once Hēran and Boris actually set foot on the property.
The artist revealed that the previous owner of La Boule d’Or refused to test the electricity and water supply before selling the chapel.
This meant that when Hēran eventually secured a contract and turned the water on, a pipe burst and the old building swiftly flooded.
“Water started shooting out of a hole in the wall,” he groaned.
“Then we we turned on the lights and the lights started dripping, like there was water coming from somewhere from the ceiling.
“And then the entire ceiling collapsed on one of the beds. Luckily we were in a different room.
“We just heard a big crash and then discovered that the entire ceiling was on the floor.
“And then we found that there were bats living in the in the hotel as well.”
After being left completely overwhelmed by the amount of renovations that had to be done before the hotel would be liveable, Hēran took to TikTok with a plea to his fans.
He offered free bed and board at La Boule d’Or to any of his followers who were willing to tackle the refurb.
To his shock, over 150 people showed up.
He gushed: “We had people come from New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Canada, North America.
“We had this huge team of people turn up from Australia. And there was a Swiss guy as well who would just tackle absolutely anything.
“In the end we got it done super quickly. It was really fun. We had nice parties.
“Some of them were musicians and came and played and performed in the chapel as well. I would collaborate with them, sing on some songs, write with them.”
Thanks to the help of his followers, the entire refurbishment process only cost Hēran £100,000.
After catching wind of the exciting project, Channel 4 bosses got in touch with the musician and asked if they could feature La Boule d’Or on Help! We Bought a Hotel – the spin-off of Help! We Bought a Village.
Hēran laughed: “They turned up and said they would just be there for a couple of weeks. They ended up staying for three months.”
During that time the Channel 4 crew got footage of the chapel’s transformation into a functional hotel, which Hēran is now using for artist’s residencies.
The series will also feature special scenes from when the musician decided to host a large party for the French locals at his property, even coming up with a ribbon cutting ceremony involving the town’s mayor.
“Music has brought me so much,” Hēran smiled.
“It brought me to France. It gave me a little funding which I needed to be able to participate in this.
“Then to continue, to try and be a musician and also invite new people, it means I get to collaborate with all of these lovely people.
“You know, like it’s not running a hotel. It’s hosting people but helping them in so many other creative ways.”
