The South of France
Pierre Freau working on a sink at his studio in France.
Who: Pierre Freau, 39
Launched: Decorative concrete business
Pierre Freau went from the modern hubbub of San Francisco to the calm of a medieval village in southern France.
Freau had quit his job as a sales executive in 2004 to renovate an old barn in the town of Vézénobres. "I had enough with the corporate world and I just wanted to do something different," he said.
Freau spent four years working on the barn, splitting his time between France and San Francisco. Freau did much of the labor side by side with the help of local mason, and became enchanted with decorative concrete, which can be molded to make sinks, bar tops, fireplace pits and other items. In 2007, Freau started working and training with Buddy Rhodes, a San Francisco artisan and concrete maker.
"I finally found out what I want to do when I grew up," said Freau. "I just fell in love with [the material] and right away knew there was a market for this product in France and in Europe."
A year later, Freau launched his own studio in Vézénobres, Stoneman Concrete, where he crafts furniture and other household items out of Buddy Rhodes' concrete, and sells the material to a network of masons in the area.
Freau continues to maintain a place in San Francisco, but for he, his wife and their two 3-year-old boys, their new home is perfect. "We wanted our children to be able to walk out the door and play without having to drive to a city park. Here their backyard is a forest," he said. "We definitely think that the little place we have here is the family paradise."
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