This profile of another First Worlder who has “made more monie” is of a successful CFA and businesswoman extraordinaire. According to an August 2021 Toronto Life article by Cheryl Bozynki (as told to Katie Underwood), Cheryl is another who parlayed great education choices along with working hard and smart. This synergistic combination was key in granting her younger, childhood self a wish of hers, expressed to her mother decades earlier, to “live in a house with a turret”.
Growing up, she had an obsession with them, surrounded by grounds and gardens as far as one could see; places found in fairy tales and fantasies. This fascination with such places, found in far-away lands across Europe where such architectural structures abound, would be nurtured by spending her years from kindergarten to high school in French immersion. Her teachers, and likely her mother – acting proactively in arranging her daughter’s early enrollment – envisioned it leading to global opportunities, just as surely as developing a good set of manners in oneself leads to being invited into another’s home.
The article notes that a trip to France in her early 20’s in the early 90’s solidified her love of all things French architecture; “the great curves, the tall windows, the stone details, the history, the grandeur”, and the sheer romance of it all. This surely appealed to her long-recognized artistic self, but she set aside her “knack for drawing and visual arts”, and set her sights on attending University, studying economics.
She rationalized this suppression of her artistic/architectural side as the practical path to follow, eventually attaining her credentials, and forged a financially rewarding career in investment management.
Apparently, over this fruitful career, during the 2000’s – perhaps subconsciously searching for fulfillment, but certainly not surprisingly – she began browsing real estate listings for chateaus in France. During these numerous sessions, she couldn’t help but notice that with each passing year, local – and even not-so-local “cottage country” properties – became more and more expensive, yet those costs to acquire a chateau in France remained constant – and at about half the price!
Fast-forwarding almost two decades and occasional-but-not-so-mindful browsing sessions later, she’d built herself a private business empire managing real estate/equity investments along with identifying, designing and renovating properties to maximize their value, both financially and functionally.
Combined with the happy family she raised – no doubt the icing on the cake – she seemingly had it all, yet, despite the family she enjoyed and the growing success of her company, there was something missing. Thinking about her childhood dream of owning that “castle with a turret”, she fondly remembered that passion she had for all things architecturally majestic.
Rather than browsing through the still-numerous chateau listings though, she called a United Kingdom realtor and booked a number of viewings to see up close and personal what she’d been dreaming of, for what seemed like forever and from too far away. She then booked a flight to Paris, then bought a ticket for a two-hour train ride west to a city called Rennes. She topped off these purchases with a car rental reservation, facilitating her visiting five short-listed properties in the locale over five days.
I have no doubt she must have been smiling from ear-to-ear thinking about her adventure, not to mention the difference in property price tags between “here ‘n’ there” once one broadens their horizons, especially when factoring in the historic value of certain properties.
Focusing her search in a region of Western France known for its art and history, she visited that designated handful of estates, eventually settling on one nestled among lush rolling hills. Built in the 1800’s and sitting on 70 acres with its own forest and long driveway to the road leading to a small town, it also featured not a turret, but turrets.
Disclaimer: The information contained herein should not be construed or considered professional advice. Nonetheless, thanks for reading! If it resonates, there’s “plenty more where that came from” on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X ‘n’ YouTube.