The French Castle Project
Hi, I’m Erin — a knitter, crocheter, and project manager with a long history of managing multi-million-dollar projects. I’ve spent years empowering medical visionaries to accomplish their wildest dreams, and now it’s time to focus on the fiber community.
The Problem
Creative projects are frequently seen as impractical, especially when they come from dreamers, makers, artists, or hobbyists who are told to keep their passions small. What if our passions aren’t small? What if they are massive? What does it look like for a massive dream to become a reality?
The French Castle Project challenges the narrative that dreams have to be small to come alive. Big dreams can be realized in community, and creative communities have real power to create momentum. With thoughtful planning, realities can coexist with imagination. By openly sharing my project management process to buy a castle in France and host fiber-related retreats — both the momentum and the obstacles — I hope to show others that big, bold, beautiful ideas don’t have to stay out of reach. You can dream bigger, plan smarter, and watch your passion become something lasting, meaningful, and real.
The Vision
Imagine being swallowed in luxury at a romantic French chateau in the countryside, silk sheets and gossamer curtains swaying in the breeze next to your open balcony window, beautiful painted murals and goldleaf adornment on the walls and ceilings, 3-course formal dinners on china after crystal champagne cocktail hours, and new friends chatting over dinner about newfound commonalities in the fiber world,
Imagine sitting in a light-filled room filtered by stained glass windows, surrounded by carved molding and antique furniture, with your favorite pen and notebook in hand where you attend a knitting or crochet or other fiber-related class taught by your favorite designer (like Andrew Mowry, Sari Nordlund, Sara Dudek, Maggie Casey, or Faye Jacobs).
Imagine a broader sense of community and direction as you talk about big topics in the fiber industry and where the industry’s heading as your team of fiber lovers learn about themselves, their hopes and dreams, and what it looks like to lead the fiber world in new directions over the coming years.
These scenarios are just a tiny part of the vision I’ve honed of what a fiber retreat will entail. These retreats are meant for more than just experiencing life in a castle. These retreats are pathways to:
- Creativity
- Alignment
- Team Building
- Community Direction
- Personal Relaxation
- Technique Development
- Historical Preservation
- Legacy Building
I envision these retreats as opportunities to build a community invested in the responsibility and legacy of keeping architectural history and the fiber arts alive, that trains and empowers younger generations in old techniques, that believes there’s power in community wisdom and support, and where every person is valued, cherished, and treated like royalty and family. The French Castle Project invites makers from all the fiber arts communities to enter into a space where you fit just as you are while being immersed in a beautiful French countryside chateau!
The Plan
Using the project management techniques and solutions I’ve gathered in my extensive years of experience managing multi-million-dollar federal grant projects, I’ve created a phased approach to researching, planning and executing the process of buying a French castle and hosting fiber retreats. As of January 2026, I’m in Phase II of the process. The Phases include:
- Phase I – Research
- Phase II – Planning
- Phase III – Marketing
- Phase IV – Funding
- Phase V – Expatriation
- Phase VI – Preparation
- Phase VII – Implementation
- Phase VIII – Quality Improvement
Each of these phases include multiple smaller steps within them, and I’m sharing my experiences – both the highs and the lows – as I go.
The Retreat Experience
What will a fiber retreat look like? I envision a retreat as a time to relax while surrounded by luxury, to enjoy leisurely meals, to sit before a marble fireplace and craft, and having time to decompress and enjoy new techniques of making. Ideally, retreats would be curated for knitters, crocheters, weavers, spinners, designers, yarn dyers and local yarn owners, with each retreat type having a slightly different focus and agenda. A sample crochet or knitting retreat could look like:
FAQs
Some of the questions I get most are:
1. Are you crazy?! Maybe? But I don’t think so! I’m used to managing $20M+ projects and providing transparency about funding, so massive budgets and giant projects don’t scare me. And I’ve wanted to live in a castle ever since I read The Secret Garden when I was 8! But this isn’t just about buying a castle and/or renovating it. It’s about taking a dream, breaking it down into a realistic plan that can actually be accomplished in community, and then sharing that process while inviting the fiber and castle communities along for the ride. As we say in the knitting world – it’s also about the process, not just the end product.
2. When are you buying a castle? Our family will purchase a castle once we hit Phase V of the project. I’ve got a tentative timeline in mind for when I’d like to hit this phase, but I’m not sharing those details at this moment. This entire project requires the right timing for each phase, and I’ll share what I can when it’s responsible to do so.
3. What castle are you buying? We don’t know yet! So much will depend on Phases I-IV, but I’ve been researching castles for almost 20 years now and have a long list of criteria – both mandatory and optional – that our perfect castle will need to meet to accomplish this project. Of course I’ve got a few favorites in mind already (do you see the dragons on the roof in the castle above?!?), but Phases I-IV will really dictate what happens in Phase V.
4. Are you crowdfunding to buy the castle? Maybe? But that’s not where we’re at right now. When we get to Phase III we can share more.
5. When can I sign up for a retreat? You’ll get to sign up for a retreat in Phase VII – Implementation. A lot can happen in each phase to adjust my timeline so when it’s right to do so, I’ll share the exact dates through social media and my newsletter list.
Curious About This Project?
I’d love for you to follow along! You can follow me on TikTok @thefrenchcastleproject and on Instagram @erin.elllllis, or, sign up below to get updates about my progress on The French Castle Project. You’ll get insider reports on the steps within the Phases, what castles we’re considering and why, and you’ll find out when we purchase a castle and when it’s time to sign up for retreats once we launch!
Partner With Me
If you’d like to have a hand in shaping and steering this project, I’d love to invite you to join me in the journey. I’m currently looking for designers & instructors to teach fiber-related classes, investers to contribute financially, and current castle owners to contribute their expertise in managing a castle. Please email me at hell0@frenchcastleproject.com if you’re interested in discussing a partnership.
Thanks so much for your interest in The French Castle Project!
Erin