The first major impact on the building was the creating of French doors in the kitchen so that it would be double aspect and allow the morning light to stream in.
Next came the changing of the bedroom window in the fourth room upstairs so that we could construct a chimney and fireplace in the salon below. This was a bit of a gamble in that we had already ordered the new handcrafted window. The artisans re-used the existing stones and, much to our relief, the new window fitted perfectly!
That was followed by contructing two further sets of French doors, one in the new entrance hall and one in the new salon. Light now streams in and the view over to the pond and woods is really beautiful in the morning.
Bertrand then started work stripping off all the remaining crepi and replacing it with a softer colour crepi 'a joindre'. He really worked so very hard and everyday we could see a definite improvement. Fortunately he also found the work satisfying as it really was hard going.
As you can see we still need to make the shutters but 'petit a petit' as they say over here.
We have just finished laying a terrace along the back so that we can eat breakfast outside in the sun.
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( 2.9 / 29 )
Couldn't resist putting some of the winter photos up as it really is so beautiful. We are managing to work on which is good as the bookings for this year are proving to be coming in much earlier than last year. The word hopefully is spreading.
The wild life is also certainly making it's presence known with the deer and wild boar coming quite close to the house.
We are also expecting some Aubrac heifers this week so no doubt our bullocks will enjoy the new company.
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( 3 / 105 ).jpg)
It was the location rather than the house that helped us make the decision to buy. The house itself was very run down and sad and desperately in need of some love and attention.Little did we realise the treasure of beautiful stone we would find under the old and discoloured 'crepi' or render.
Farmers are known for being very practical people and so previous owners had created a modern garage within the house using cement joists and the necessary rectangular opening. Reinstating french windows using stone and handcrafted wooden doors helped to transform the appearance of the house as one approaches.
We nicknamed Bertrand 'the elf' as he is a very strong but small man with a wonderful sense of humour and loved his woolly hat and muffler. Mind you, as he was working throughout the year to help transform the outside, he certainly needed them in the winter.It took months of work to strip off the crepi, clean the stones and then replace with natural lime crepi ' a joindre' so that the stone could still be seen.
The front door was then the next task,and being riddled with woodworm, was almost impossible to open and so we commissioned a new door based on the style that would have been in vogue when the house was first built. It surpassed our expectations!
Two years after having moved in we have a house we believe has become alive again and 'Quelle belle maison' is an expression we often hear.
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( 3.1 / 133 )It really was very exciting to see the houuse begin to take shape again after so much destruction.
After much worry as to whether I had got the room dimensions correct it was a relief to find that it was going to work out OK. It was then time to make acquaintance with a new artisan who specialised in staircases and with whom it was so important that I got my explanation in French correct as I knew exactly what I wanted. Well see for yourselves! The stairs work well and are both child and elderly friendly.
The new section into the attic meant that all 4 bedrooms could have ensuite bathrooms another very important factor for our new B&B business.
After much deliberation we then made the entrance into a study with a sitting area now much used by guests and where there is often a game of chess in progress as guests play an ongoing game between forays into the countryside and bastide towns.
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( 3.2 / 161 )We feel pretty sure that apart from the kitchen at the end of the house the room beside it living was done upstairs. That idea comes from the fact that the decorative fireplaces are upstairs, the ceilings are higher and as you opened the front door you were directly in front of the stairs and turning right was a definite problem.........left lead to the caves.
Under the wooden steps was an actual stone staircase which must have been great in it's day but was unfortunately crumbling.........hence the covering.... and so we weren't able to re-use for the newly designed staircase. We did save the stone and later found we were able to use them to create doorsteps to the new French windows which is fantastic.
The day the staircase came down our masons actually turned up in hard hats which they normally never wear so we knew for sure it was going to be a dramatic piece of work!
Then the rebuilding could begin to create an entrance hall and a gently rising staircase that was safer for all.
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( 3.1 / 144 )
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