Stopping water from flowing into the house

[Michael Mullins]

I'm not sure where to place this post, so if it needs to move please let me now. 

I just purchased a property and we had some heavy rains in the area, and it looks like the water is flowing off other property next door and down the small hill and into my living room and kitchen. So this needs to be fixed ASAP. Ｉ was thinking french drain, however this would only work with a small rain and the water would already be at the foot of the house. What do you you think about building a wall out of sender blocks and covering them up with dirt. It would only be one sender block high, filled with sand, and then covered with dirt. IT would need to be 80 feet long. I need a way to move the water away from the house. I"m also thinking that I might need to install gutters on the back of the house and have them discharge to the side of the property. Or is there something I can spray inside the cracks / breather holes in the brick that would stop the water from getting in. 

Any thoughts and ideas you have would be helpful, because this is the first time I've had to deal with this.