Southern Times

PROJECT RESTORATION 2

Theo — 2005-08-25T15:16:29Z

A follow up to PROJECT RESTORATION (see below) with useful information about roof terraces (or lack of) ..

PROJECT RESTORATION 2

As often happens, whilst I was grappling with the "des res" in the previous article, we were offered the even smaller house opposite at an affordable price. The house subsequently became ours. As ever, what was supposed to be a quick clean up and coat of paint became a full on building site, as the various possibilities presented themselves.

The one big disappointment was the refusal of a building permit to put up a roof terrace. This is an important fact to take into account for anyone considering renovating a village property down here. There is often no outside space with these houses and a roof terrace can add considerably to the value of the house. But different mairies' attitudes towards roof terraces vary wildly. Before signing for a property, always take the trouble to speak to the local mairie. They are generally very helpful and pleased to be as co-operative as possible. You should never take the estate agent's word as gospel.

I am pleased to be able to say that we had no difficulty in selling PR2. It should be said that I put great emphasis on a high standard of finish, which buyers always appreciate.

After a brief summer pause, I have put back on the steel capped boots and dust mask and am cracking into PR3.

PROJECT RESTORATION 3 - THE BARN

Theo — 2005-08-25T00:00:00Z

How to build a brand new house inside some 14th century walls ..

This entire project is not so much one of restoration, more of building a brand new house in an ancient shell. We again stumbled upon the place by accident, as usual. It strikes me that property buying down here is largely a matter of opportunism; being in the right place at the right time.

We have now owned the barn for over a year and it is taken almost all this time to get a clear idea in my head as to what I would like to do to it, and secondly getting the building permit.

The barn is immense - 10 meters high and 116m2 floor surface, with a 50m2 courtyard at the front and a small terrace (27m2) at the near. Because the surface area of the livable space we were intending to create exceeded 170m2, we were obliged to go through an architect. This is a French statutory requirement. I am used to drawing up plans as this was always a regular part of my work when I was a building contractor. However, what the architect insisted on, in order that he would put his rubber stamp to my plans, drove me to distraction. This being said, when finally the plans were submitted, everything went through very smoothly.

The main controlling body when dealing with a property in a listed village is the "Architecte de Batiment de France" (ABF). This is a name to strike fear and loathing into all builders and architects alike. They are equivalent to the UK "English Heritage". After two lengthy meetings with our appointed architect, we arrived at an amicable compromise regarding new openings etc.

At this point, I should describe the barn and its rather special location. Gabian is a listed village thanks to its church and also the building that used to house the bishops, both superb examples of medieval architecture and stonework. The history of Gabian goes back before the Romans. The barn actually forms part of the old ramparts. A stone construction with walls 1m50 thick, overlooking the river Thongue. From several conversations with the local archaeologist, it appears that the basic construction of the barn dates back to the 14th century and was at the time a "maison de seigneur". It can clearly be seen from various carved stone corbels remaining in the walls that there used to exist a structure of arches forming the basic supports to the upper floors. The existing faÃ§ade is relatively recent.

With the co-operation of our beloved ABF, we arrived at a plan to open two windows through the ramparts looking out over the river and the vista of rolling Languedoc landscapes. We also agreed on a plan to completely rebuild the faÃ§ade. Fortunately neither the ABF nor the Mairie are in the slightest bit concerned about what happens inside the building architecturally. Although, given we are putting a new electricity supply in, we shall have to undergo a full examination of the circuitry and installation in order to qualify for a certificate of conformity. (If we had mains gas the same would be the case, however, Gabian does not.)

The barn itself has been partly hewn out of the solid rock face. The ground floor is mostly solid rock - no need for hardcore! We have started works with a load bearing central wall cutting the ground floor into two halves; one half will be the garage, boiler room and services; the other half will be an indoor heated swimming pool. Because we are on solid rock there is no question of digging the pool into the ground, as you would normally do. So I'm going to build off the floor in a system of reinforced concrete and blocks. The pool will be heated from a solar panel on the roof with twin pumps providing a powerful current of water, strong enough to swim against. I'm planning on a "broken tile" finish above water level not unlike that which can be seen in Barcelona in the Gaudi Park Guel. On the same level, there will be a shower room and a WC.

There will be a stone staircase going up to the first floor on the left. I want to make the most of the space and the vaulted window opening over the river with an open plan kitchen and living area (60m2). This area will be open to the roof. To the right, there will be two bedrooms with en suite bathrooms. A second staircase will lead to an open gallery passage and a third bedroom. On the same level will be an open mezzanine forming possible sleeping area or office/studio or whatever.

This is the biggest and most exciting project I have undertaken to date.

We shall post regular progress reports on the site.

MISS PATCH

Theo — 2005-08-25T00:00:00Z

Buy a raffle ticket and help raise money for research into Alzheimer's.

I wish I'd taken it up years ago. When we first arrived in Agde, in 1991, I quite soon became aware of the thriving local patchwork group by way of the annual exhibition of their amazing creations. I was interested, but for all the usual reasons - small children, doing up a house - I never took it any further.

Then a couple of years ago, now living in Tourbes, I spotted a poster for a new patchwork group starting up in Pezenas. This time I didn't hesitate. The courses are run by Nicole Serieys, a French woman who lived for many years in England and speaks fluent English. The classes are held in the back room of the shop run by her daughter, Brigitte, where they sell a range of irresistible fabrics, patchwork accessories, candles and gorgeous gifty things.

There were two groups to start with, increasing to three as from September 2005, as word gets round. The Thursday group, to which I belong, is a mixed French/English group, but by general agreement, we all communicate in French. Nicole is an excellent teacher, and famously laid-back. When one of us does something stupid, which threatens to ruin an entire piece of work, she always says: "Ce n'est pas grave" - her favourite expression - before finding a creative solution to the problem.

It is a wonderful opportunity to get to know people, improve your French, and sit around chatting, drinking tea and eating biscuits, comforted by the warm glow of doing something creative with your hands. There also seems to be an unspoken rule that nasty people don't do patchwork. In two years, I have yet to come across any unkindness or meanness. Generosity and a spirit of sharing seem to go with the hobby.

We began in September 2003, and were ready for our first exhibition in Pezenas in May 2005. We were lucky to be able to hold it in the famous Hotel Lacoste, which made the perfect backdrop. Perhaps we are not yet quite up to the standard of the Agde group, but we're getting there. Special thanks are due to Alice Van Wart from Roujan who kindly lent us two of her Canadian grandmother's beautiful hand made quilts for the exhibition.

Nicole also holds a series of full day or half day oocasional workshops on special patchwork techniques.

We are currently working all together on a tablecloth which will be raffled to raise money for research into Alzheimer's. Pat Ogden of Coulobres will be trekking a 100km stretch of the Great Wall of China to raise funds, and this will be our contribution. The finished cloth will be displayed in the shop (2 en 1, rue Conti, 34120 Pezenas - 04.67.90.04.93) and tickets will be on sale at 1 euro each.

So if you are a newcomer to the area, interested in doing something creative, meeting people and improving your French, come and join us.

PROJECT RESTORATION

John Platings, Theo — 2004-01-17T12:39:07Z

When I first saw the house, I knew I had found my next project. A village house with a barn attached, with a little outside space where you can take coffee in the sunshine, and so close to the river you can hear M. Magret and his wives loudly quacking for their breakfast.

It seems ideal, and one day it will be. For now, it's a building site filled with rubble and potential.

This isn't the first time I've been here. I've endured the heartaches and triumphs, setbacks and successes several times before. Each time, somehow, we've managed to pull I off. And each time I've forgotten the agony and remembered the ecstasy.

This time, for my benefit and for the benefit of anyone who might be contemplating going the same route, I've decided to chart the progress of the venture. So how do you go about the transformation? How do you restore a crumbling ruin and turn it into a des res?

Step one: find your house. If you are planning to restore a property to sell on, there are certain things you need to bear in mind. The first things to consider are (to coin a phrase) location, location, location. Is it on a flood plain? Are there plans afoot to build a motorway through the property? Does it get the sun, and when? And, most importantly in these climes, is there shade to be had when the summer temperature climbs to 30 degrees-plus?

I decided that what I had, in fact, was two viable properties. For the moment I am concentrating on the house. When it is finished it will be a bijou 2-bedroom home with a little internal courtyard and a newly-built but old-looking internal staircase to replace the existing external stone steps. Once I have sold this, I'll turn my attention to the barn. I have great plans for the barn - but that's another project.

Step two - clear it out. It's amazing what some people leave behind in their houses, and often there is a little nugget of gold among the dross, a little cadeau from the house to you. I know people who have found old enamel stoves in perfect working order, decorative cremailleres or interesting architectural features dating back hundreds or even thousands of years. Bitter disappointment - this house had no cadeau for me.

Next comes a serious planning session. The house as I found it had an external staircase up to the first floor where, traditionally for a French village farmhouse, the living area was. Next to the street door was a vaulted area where the betail (farm animals) would have been kept. Behind this was an identically vaulted area, because in fact the house was originally two houses built on to each other.

I decided to demolish the external staircase and open up the vaulted area nearest to the street to make a little front garden-cum-terrace. I punched through the rear vaulted area, which will become the entrance to the house. The internal staircase will join this room to the upper floor. The vaulting, of course, will make a superb feature, essential for selling on.

Demolition always comes before any construction can be undertaken. In this case, I had to take out everything the previous owners had lovingly 'restored'. This included a peculiarly French method of dry-lining the walls, which involves using 5cm terracotta blocks, stood on edge to form an inner wall. Taking these out added size to the rooms, and left the way open to lay bare the (often beautiful) stonework of the original walls.

Onward and upward. Last week I took the roof off the front part of the house because, artfully disguised though this fact was, it proved to be rotten. In fact, the whole roof was rotten - tiles, timbers, the lot - and will have to be replaced. But, knowing our splendid sunny weather won't last forever, I only expose half of the house at a time, and only tackle the second half when the first part is watertight. Will everything go according to plan? Watch this spaceâ€¦

Tips and wrinkles (1)

Be prepared for surprises. However carefully you examine your property, there will always be something you overlook. I'm a professional. I'm fairly well experienced in these matters. Surely I couldn't fail to notice that the roof beams were totally rotten? To my great embarrassment, I did. I also discovered belatedly that the house was hewn out of solid rock. Tricky when it comes to building, but a lovely selling point. "The house benefits from a wine cave built into the living rock itselfâ€¦"