Following the renovation of The Barn, in 2009 we did a trek of 2500 km in the north and north west of France to look for a property and region to settle down. 3 weeks later whilst sitting on the patio enjoying a glass of wine Mark had a light bulb moment, how about here? We love the area and have great friends here, what about the cow filed behind us? It had a derelict animal manger and a dilapidated apple orchard but we could work on that! So we set the plan to transform this small building in to a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom bungalow.
So here we go again! Year2010. After negotiating the access to the property its time to start clearing the area and getting stuck in on the planning and restoration. Roof first... to make it water proof.
Inside we need to start on a bathroom, bedroom and a temporary kitchen and get the windows and door in for security. The really tough part was gently chipping though the stone walls which are 14 inches thick, and as neatly as possible, then patching them in again with the perfect size replacement stone to give a smooth edge. It was time consuming!
The pressure is on we need to move out of the Barn as our first summer season is about to start and it will be a self catering holiday home. So what next?
We borrowed a couple of caravans one to live in and one for storage, both only 14 feet long with three of us (Mark, me and Kess our beautiful rather large German shepherd) to live in for the next 6 months. With no electric and the mains water via a tap in the garden, and just about to start a new job in Caen with a 3 hour daily commute…. No problem!!!
Once the structure of the building was set it was time to start putting the "meat on the bones" and doubling the size of this lovely stone building. First the en-suite bathroom.
We were going to keep the extension in character with the stone, but the time would have been tripled for completion so we decided to combine old and new to give it character but with a modern touch. It all starts to take shape.
For almost a year we lived in one room (the bedroom) with en-suite bathroom/wc with an entrance to what would be the kitchen with thick plastic tarpaulin covering the large hole through to the new extension whilst it was being built.
It wasn't the cosiest way to spend your evenings on a cold night with the wind whistling through, but we made the most of it.
Finally we were getting there with the extension nearing completion and the grounds taking the format of a drive and garden. Then Voila!
Translate This Page