Sue and John (Culli) Culligan are your hosts at The Barn in
South West France. They moved to France from Sussex in
2004 and love the relaxed lifestyle. Sue and Culli live in the cottage next door to the The Barn, with their two dogs Buddy and Billie.
Sue learnt to knit when she was 4 years old and has been passionate about colour, textiles and design since then. After leaving Brighton Art College she started a business designing and making knitwear for children, over the years the business transformed into a yarn shop and online business, which she ran until a few years after the move to France.
Looking for a new business in France she came up with the idea of running the Knitting and crochet holidays, combining her love of knitting, crochet and cooking. Both Sue and Culli are keen cooks and serve delicious home cooked meals every day at Knitting Holidays in France using
local produce and seasonal veg from Sue's little allotment at the end of the
garden. in between the knitting holidays Sue works as a freelance translator for yarn company Bergere de France and works on new designs for KnitKits.
Culli is an architect, the scheme for The Barn was
one of his first projects in France. He still works on design projects
for French and English clients and helps Sue run the knitting and crochet
retreats, serving up his legendary gin and tonic at 6pm every evening. Since the pandemic in 2020 he has
discovered a talent for baking, his no knead bread and lemon drizzle cake are becoming firm favourites. In his spare time Culli is a keen wood-turner, his beautiful yarn bowls and other designs are for sale in the pop up shop at Knitting Holidays in France, he also plays bass guitar in The Billy Whizz Band!
The Barn is also available to rent as a self-catering holiday home throughout the year, see details here.
