New roofs for old.....

Well one of the first essential things to be done was to put a new roof on the barn and the house to make it watertight before anything starts to happen inside.  The traditional French roof is simply tiles hooked or nailed on to laths without felting, moisture barrier or heat insulation.

So if any tiles become misplaced by wind you can simply go up into the attic, chase the pigeons out and reach up to adjust the tiles.  But it also means you get leaks from cracked tiles. It's also very hot in summer and cold in winter and you can't use the attic space except for laundry drying.  So off came the old Roman style tiles.  The top ones, or overs, largely crumbled, but a large number of the unders were in good enough condition to save.The main timbers on the barn were in good condition but all the smaller wooden parts had to be replaced... amazing how much you need!  Andrew had the fun of working out how to lay the new laths and tiles so that you started and ended each gable end with whole tiles... a bit difficult when nothing starts off square.

We partially cheated and slightly economised by using reproduction artificial Roman tiles that are interlocking and more resilient to the elements. 








So by end of May in perfect sunny weather we had a largely watertight barn where the roof now overhangs the stone walls to keep most of the heavy rains off the outside walls.

The roof for the house was a different matter......

Stan and other new friends

During the April visit we found time to walk up to Lucie's house and barn which are real aladdin's caves, including her mum's old Morris Traveller. Beautiful spaces with fantastic views and it will stunning when its fully renovated. We must try and help, as she's really taken us under her wing, and gone out of her way to be helpful. Her 2 black labs, Zuri and Nusu love it up the hill, though Zuri howled and needed a full 15 minutes of pampering to stop his trembling when he touched his nose on Stan the donkey's electric fence. Stan was rescued by Lucie and has just had another reprieve as the local vet has just deemed him too old to lose his balls (a danger of haemoraging apparently), so a doubly lucky donkey. He loves mints, though the extra strong one we gave him left him open mouthed literally. 

Sitting at Le Donjon we see and meet the world of Bourdeilles. Ben the IT guy, Antoine and Martine from Versailles, the 70 year old "paper boy" who pops in for an express (coffee), Elaine who is doing up the mill we saw when we were investigating builders and many more. And it is all so stunningly beautiful too. Our contentment reached new heights at Auchan in Perigeux when we bought lots of VERY reasonably priced wine that I can drink, whilst Malcolm is next out here "helping" Andrew and having a fabulous time.

Neighbours

Mme Lucie (another Lucie), and our neighbour invited us in for an apero at lunchtime and had opened a bottle of white and rose, as well as trying to make Malcolm have a whiskey. It was interesting to see her house as I think it was built at around the same time as ours. She has also promised to speak only French to Malcolm when he is here on his own (she only speaks French anyway). Her husband was a racing driver and they moved from Paris with her daughter in 2000. She knew the previous owners and used to help them every day. We also had a chat to Jerome who owns the mill under us by the river and the land at the front of us. He was very charming and seems fine, despite the fact we know he tried to gazzump us on the house but thankfully the owners stuck to their side of the deal. Lucie says he speaks good English and I think he has an English girlfriend but he didn't let on and it's good practise for us anyway. He's got an old black lab called Paco, who staggers around the hamlet saying hello and hoping for biscuits. We seem to have been lucky with our neighbours so far!

There was good news and semi good news on the "stuff" from the house. The good news was that an old dirty picture we bought for 10 euros turns out to be by quite a well known artist from the turn of the century so it deserves a bit of a dust down. The semi good news is that we still don't know what to do with, or how to move the "range" the owners kindly left us (as they couldn't get it out of the kitchen).  Any ideas on what we can do with it gratefully received.

Bourdeilles is coming to life. May 1st is a holiday when they give lily of the valley and Mme Lucie had left us a bunch when we were in the barn, which was sweet. We went to a really remote restaurant and new hotel with Lucie and Etienne, near St Jean de Cole, where they make their own goats cheese and had a very gourmand menu, and really tasty. The proprietor showed us some designer bedrooms he's spent a fortune on and we hope it works for him, so will make an excuse to go again later in the season.

Spring and barn clearing

So April arrived and we drove over to clear the barn and house of anything worth saving.  Plus have final final discussions with Andrew on the plans and work timeline which is due to start on the 12th May!  Dinner in Le Donjon on the 1st night of course, after a productive few hours taming some of the vegetation near the back of the house (the ivy won with an easy knockout).

A late Sunday lunch with Andrew and Debbie (he can cook as well) and no wine forgetfulness on our part and it set us up for a day spent in the barn and attic.  Despite the previous owners' grandchildren having cleared the house there were still a few gems.  Mirrors, picture frames, china, all that has seen better days but I love the story they tell of the house, the people, the era. Even some old letters from 1958, when Grandfather, who was living in a house attached to the chateau, was accused of causing a motor accident and ordered to pay costs.  He appealed and fought a hard battle which he finally won, helped by a witness who remembered that he couldn't remember what had happened!

We also found some great doors which we hope Andrew can use, possibly in the new French door opening from the snug.  

Choosing a builder

I haven't yet mentioned the limestone. Our house is built on an outcrop of limestone overhanging (literally) the river Dronne. Bourdeilles is in a prehistoric area of caves and fabulous rock formations, which add greatly to its appeal, but present problems for any sort of digging. Having received permission for a microstation rather than a traditional fosse septic, we were hoping that excavations would be kept to a minimum (as would the cost).

So a chilly week in February found us huddled around our kitchen table reviewing builders and their initial quotations. Here we have to give a belated but sincere big thank you to Cate our agent, who had not only smoothed the purchase process with the charming notaire in Brantome, but then suggested a builder whose work she had admired. I'm sure the builders originally suggested by the architect are good quality and possibly efficient, but initial impressions suggested that the size of gesticulations had a very direct relationship with the size of the potential bills. Also that the old stone giant would be rudely shaken awake, various limbs chopped off before a violent reassembling.

Andrew on the other hand, not only had a sensible budgeting head, he loved recycling, reusing, and keeping as much of the old guy as possible. Also he had been in regular contact and had supplied a quote that didn't make me immediately want to weep. And he only wants paying in arrears! What finally decided us however, was he and his wife Debbie's generosity when we visited for an aperitif. They showed us around the beautiful home they've created, gave us equal measures of wine and advice and then even supplied the bottle of wine for us to take to Etienne and Lucie's for dinner, when we belatedly realised shops had closed.

Which brings me to the hospitality we have already enjoyed. Dinner with Cate and her husband Billy in their amazing renovation (according to the plans) and new build (in reality), with a steeple tower our local church would be proud of. And Lucie and Etienne, proprietors of our local restaurant and B&B who had invited us for dinner when they were closed, arranged for tree lopping and dispensed valuable advice and local background. We have already booked our rooms and courtyard table for the summer whilst the outfitters work on the tailoring of the old guy's new garments.

Planning permission

There followed lots of staring into the distance and furrowed brows as the ideas flowed for what we actually wanted to create, the room functions, the time to be spent here and whether we would rent the finished house out.  Finally we agreed that the house and barn should be merged to form one large dwelling with 5 good sized bedrooms and bathrooms.  Ambitious I hear you say!  Absolutely, but Malcolm would point you to the properties I had initially considered, which included huge stone presbyteries and mills, which even I eventually concluded were hopelessly unrealistic and beyond our needs.  And means! 

This project is certainly big, but do-able in stages and we aren't in any major hurry.  We see it as an evolving being, a gentle reawakening of a sleeping stone giant, assisted with a few judicious prods around his waistline plus a visit to a barber and stylish but homely gentleman's outfitter. 

Having heard horror stories about planning permission taking years and unsure if we were in the 500m radius of the chateau, where apparently even more obstacles are placed in the path of the unwary, we applied for all that we hoped for.  This included a pool (I suspect this may remain an optimistic weedy corner of the garden for a few years), a balcony off our bedroom and new dormer and velux windows. 

Then we waited, having been told that any objections needed to be lodged within 2 months, meaning that permission could be granted by Christmas 2012. 

Apparently not located in a restricted area and although no new building is allowed in the village, as we are not altering the footprint of the building, we received the perfect Christmas gift.  Full permission with NO amendments.  A trouble free purchase and permission, surely it's all going too well?