Sorry BigH similar conditions exist all the time, as at my house with ground water table darn close to the basement. The key, if there is one, is to keep the resulting drained water table as low as possible. A geotech experienced in use of graded filters can come up with a solution, quite likely requiring a pump. Now that's where questions come in. Do you want to have a pump capable of working or available 24/7? Since the site is noted as having a spring, maybe there is a place down hill where it can drain to by gravity and no pump needed. This would be the same principle we use where water is found when a roadway cut encounters it. You drain it off to where it is out of the site needing protection. OK, if you are in a cold climate area, then in winter will that discharge area freeze up and no water gets there, leaving the house with a wet basement? It ain't easy solving this situation, but it can be done by using the right techniques. So start off and forget the words French Drain. Be careful, you don't want to undermine the house with erosion via this system.