Fancy Shower

Now my eldest son Matt is particularly unimpressed that we have bought a ruin in France to renovate. So I am trying to win him round by promising him a room with an ensuite, and I buy this fancy gimickey shower head to make it look trendy. Stupid me! Not only do such cheap tactics not work, the fancy bleep bleep shower doesn't work very well either. By trying to please people who don't want to be pleased I have just wasted our money. Would have been much better to put in an ordinary shower. Will I ever learn? Maybe, eventually!
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Deliberate Mistake!

April 2008
The new windows are going in. can any one spot the deliberate mistake?
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

French house with Ensuite

Feb 2008 and July 2009

The two doors that are lead from the master bedroom are to a dressing room on the left and an ensuite bathroom on the right. Well that was the plan. I got the ensuite, but the dressing room was snatched away from me because Mark designated it a good space to put a hot water tank. Mmmmmm!

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Bedroom 4

The guys are doing a great job of creating colombage walls out of reclaimed timbers. This wall will divide bedroom 4 from the master bedroom.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

A great find.

Feb 2008

In the kitchen. The timber framed wall you can see was actually discovered in another part of the house when we took down a plasterboard wall to make a room bigger. We had no idea it was hiding there. The guys have carefully moved it to form the new wall between the kitchen and the hall. What a great find!

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Grey Day

Feb 2008

A bit dismal today, but the guys are soldiering on. It still looks like a bombsite after nearly 9 months of work.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Crisp and cold January 2008

Brrrrrrr, it is so cold today, but the air is crisp and clean with a beautiful blue sky. Invigorating! Base camp caravan keeps warm and cosy.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Ahhhhh, Spagetti Junction

Jan 2008
It took me a few minutes to work out where this was. I think I am standing almost in the downstairs wc., under where the stairs will be, looking into the utility room. There will be a wall built this side of all those cables coming up through the floor.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Concrete Floors

The concrete floors are being laid over the top of the water/gas/electric pipes and cables so they are all hidden away. This floor level will eventually need to come up more. There is insulation to go on top and then a screed. Mark wishes the water pipes were on top I think, within the insulation, but it is too late now.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Electrical Wiring

This really is progress. The electrician is here putting cables and wires everywhere. We are still a long way off having light at the flick of a switch but it is another big step forward. This shot is taken in the kitchen. The hard thing is deciding in advance where all the sockets and light switches are going. You think you are going to use a room in one way, but when you actually live in it things might happen differently. Then we have to consider TVs and phones and internet. I don't like having to commit so far in advance because I know I will want to change my mind but it will be too late.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Cute little daybed

Fast forward to 2010, and there it is ...... Cute little daybed in the corner of the master bedroom.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

It's Me.

I am upstairs standing in the corner of the master bedroom ..... my bedroom! This is where a cute little daybed will go.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Backside of the building

Jan 2008

This shows the progress on the backside of the building. There is loads going on at the moment, with building materials everywhere, and stuff being delivered daily. So much has happened since our last visit and so this is really exciting.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Canal Roofing Tiles

Jan 2008

The roof is really taking shape. They are over half way with the canal tiles. They look fantastic. It must be very cold working up there on the roof. Glad we are cosy in our caravan!

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

The Hall

The Hall upstairs is going to be amazing. It is really high at the centre, and that is quite unexpected from the outside of the building. Very dark at the moment because there is no natural light. We want to avoid using velux windows because we think they will compromise the insulating qualities of the roof panels.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

The Master Bedroom at Barrusclet

The new beams are in and the roof is going on. Shame about those beams!!!!!! Get over it, they are doing a good job. Yes, but surely we could have had beautiful oak beams if we had looked for longer, and spent more money and if we hadn't been in such a rush. Too late now. The other weird thing is that the upstairs is now going to be really dark because we only have the little square windows letting in light.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

The new roof.

Hey look ....... The new roof is going on. This is great news. It means that there is a chance we will be water tight before the weather deteriorates too much.

Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Chinoise

November 07

Things are still moving on. The Chinoise is being repaired and rebuilt; that is the pattern you can see on the top of the wall. It is made of canal tiles and makes an overhang. The guys are making false stones around the windows that don't have corner stones. They need a bit of 'weathering'.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Morning sunlight in south west France

This house may have no roof and has been turned in to a building site. But early in the morning before work starts it is like heaven on earth to me.
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Roof Beams

When we bought Barrusclet an upstairs did not really exist. We hoped that we might find some lovely old beams up there, but it was all pretty industrial. We have now taken delivery of new beams to support the roof. I am a bit disappointed with the designs for the trusses because it is all very angular and I don't think that attractive. I feel we have not explored the options well enough because we are now having to make quick decisions to get things on to site and keep the workforce busy and the project moving forward. This is all roaring ahead quicker than we imagined it might, and decisions (even important ones) are having to be made daily and at speed. I know they will look fine, but I also know they will never be as lovely as they might have been. We certainly won't be doing them again. I guess I should just get over it!
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

French Renovation Project

This is the biggest room in the house. Two storeys high on one side. We have taken the horizontal beams out, and put in recycled longer beams at a slope up to full roof height. This means our new room will have a magnificent open feeling. All the rubbish has been cleared out, so it just needs a roof putting on it now. Good job that Norbert D has delivered those roof panels!
Barrusclet - French farmhouse to rent in the Midi-Pyrenees

Barrusclet Kitchen

We have knocked three rooms in to one to make a great big kitchen/dining/living room. There will be a log burner against the wall at the far end. One plaster board wall had been built around a columbage wall. That was a great surprise, and the whole timber framework is going to be moved to create one of the hall walls. The acroprops are supporting the new block and beam floor in the master bedroom. The concrete has been poured over the blocks and needs supporting until it is stable.

Master Bedroom at Barrrusclet

Just spotted another good photo of what will be the master bedroom.

Efillate Panels

Norbert is delivering efillate panels for our new roof. They are massive insulated panels that will form the basis of the roof. New beams will support them, and then they will have canal tiles on top.

Norbert visits Barrusclet

How exciting ...... Norbert D comes to Barrusclet .....Goodness knows how he is ever going to turn around ... perhaps we will have to keep him. What is he bringing?

Block and Beam flooring

We are making an upstairs in the house by using block and beam flooring.....this should ensure good sound insulation. The house up until now does not have an upstairs, it doesn't even have any stairs. This area of the building may have been used for hay storage in the past. The columbage panel you can see (the bits of wood on the beam), still has cowpoo and mud infills. This space will become bedrooms 2 and 3 of our house.

The Master Bedroom at Barrusclet

Well, I am jumping forward for a brief look at the future. This blog is retrospective, and the work which began in Summer 2007 was finished, and the house ready to live in from the Summer of 2009. Just in case you are following this I thought a quick after shot might stop you from getting too depressed. This is the finished room from the previous post where Mark's shadow can be seen taking a picture of the concrete belt.

Concrete Belt

October 2007
The entire roof is off the farmhouse, and you can see the concrete belt which stabalises the whole building. That's Mark taking the picture. The space in the picture will become the master bedroom at Barrusclet.

Misty morning at Barrusclet

October 2007, early in the morning.

Renovation Progress

These three pictures are of the same aspect of the building. They show that things are finally being reconstructed after weeks of clearing the site. This part of the house was in the worst condition of all. There was actually a large tree growing right next to it that had pushed the wall over. The roof had caved in and it was fairly unsafe. I've got loads more pictures so I might put those up at a later date.

The stone wall was really not worth saving here and so redbrick has been used and will be rendered/creppied later.

I am a bit disappointed that we are going to loose the little pitched roof detail. Already financial restraints are kicking in, and we have to go for the cheaper construction. No-one else thinks it will matter, but I do! This is really the back of the house and so less important. However not putting the pitch in will make this a more boring facade. But better to save money here I suppose, and have enough left to finish the building.

A view from my office

Take a look at the view from my office. Can anyone beat this?

July 2007

French Renovation Project

Yeh!!!!!!!!! At last, the clean up And rebuild has begun in earnest. The guys are working on putting a concrete belt around the exterior walls of the building to secure it. It looks better already, although that might be because it has finally stopped raining and the sun has come out.

Base camp Barrusclet

This is our office where all important decisions are made. It is also home for when we visit. A second hand caravan that we towed down from England will save on hotel bills, plus we can survey our domain from dawn until dusk. Plastic green conference/breakfast table, wild flowers in the vase, and Hallelujah, the sun has come out.

How to renovate a French farmhouse

Well, I guess you can see what we are up against. From here on we are going to start to reconstruct and put this place back together! We will have our dream home, our place in the sunshine of South West France. Why is it always raining here then? The mud here must be the stickiest in the world. Surely things can only improve from this point?

French Renovation Project

That title should probably read more like French demolition project!

Welcome to our holiday home

The wreckers/builders have spread their magic in to the hallway. This poor building must feel trampled. What if the builder's walk off site now????? That is just being melodramatic of course. Hardly likely, because they won't get paid if they do. Ha! The hall actually looks really long now all the stuff has been moved out.

Go to www. fabulousfrance.co.uk if you want to know the happy ending.

Sunshine in the Gers

Don't panic! Even with no roof and hardly any walls, this house is still beautiful when the sun shines it's dappled light through the trees.

French farmhouse renovation

The house is fast disappearing before our eyes. I thought builders were so called because they built things. Am I missing something here? Yes! I am missing a roof, and the walls seem to be getting smaller too. What have we done?

3D Mosaics near Barrusclet

Love these 3 dimensional shapes. Some of the designs here at Seviac are stunning. It is also really peaceful, and just a lovely place to wander. You can feel the history. Has anyone seen my toga? The site is quite a recent discovery and there is still more to uncover.

Roman villa at Seviac

Time to take some time out and visit some of the local villages and places of interest.

The Roman Villa at Seviac has some gorgeous well preserved mosaics. It is only 5 minutes in the car. The Romans knew how to choose a lovely spot to build. I can see why they didn't stay too long on the Welsh borders. Lovely and warm here for taking an outdoor plunge in the baths.

french farmhouse open to the elements!

Oh noooooo! Please don't rain as we have no roof anymore. Leave the work force alone for a few weeks and look what happens. Our house is vanishing quickly. All the roofs have come off and the house feels so light and spacious instead of gloomy and dark. Not very practical though. It is all very well taking all the bad bits down, but there doesn't seem to be very much left.

Quick time on to July 2007. The house purchase is made and the carnage has begun. First step is to clear the site. The old roof is being ripped off, and all the vegetation and rubbish thrown out. The task is daunting. This is not a job for the faint-hearted.

Will there be any house left by the time we have finished?