Step Two - No longer a two home family

On the 14th August, after weeks of wondering if it would really happen, the sale of our home in the UK went through. We think that all things considered, this went through really quickly from first putting it on the market at the end of March, having an offer made and accepted in May and finally, completion.

This means that we can now start the business of renovation in earnest. Peter has sent us the full plans, which have dimensions on and for the first time, we see the front sectional view (as though its a dolls house, with the front removed.) That was so exciting, as it made the dream less vague and more visible. I'm now visualising us living there and finishing's much more clearly. Even down to knitting jumpers to wear! (The mind conceives', the mind believes. the mind achieves. My Dads favourite saying!)

I found a bolt of material in a local store which I just fell in love with instantly - to make cushions for the snug.

Everything is in store now - except for the things we need on a more every day basis. Packing was an eye opener. We have far to many clothes. Two weeks after moving, we still have not looked in the big suitcase, but we are managing perfectly well for clothes. Will I ever need to buy anything again? Perhaps only when it's worn out!

James rang last week and he will visit the Mairie next week to get a verbal agreement for the re-roofing to go ahead. Like us, he wants to have the place water tight by the winter. Then he can work on inside the house, as it's only the barn that requires the planning permission for internal changes.

The floor level in the middle section needs to be dug down, as Peter identified the problem with the levels (see previous blog [so as not to bore you!]). Then James will lay a waterproof membrane, a layer of aggregate, then 6cm of polystyrene insulation, before the final layer, which will be a concrete slab. On top of this, we will lay an oak floor - it will look so beautiful. The wood of the beams being brought back to the original colour, with the advantage of them being so well seasoned that they will look just spectacular and as oak becomes like iron with age - as said before. Those beams that are not rotten, will not be a problem in the future. That's why Tudor houses etc., can last so long. Perhaps the only thing we will need to take into account is humidity. We have a de-humidifier (in store) so I dont think that should be too much of a problem either.

We thought that the Fosse would be the next big outlay - but James advises that we leave that to the end of the project.

And work stops.......

Well, a lot has happened since last last blog, nearly a month ago. It only took two weeks for James to remove the tile from the old roof and as you can see, the rafters leave a little to be desired! In addition to this, the walls and gable ends need work and we've had an additional quote for this. The price was where we anticipated it would be and not too painful, when you consider that we will have a really solid and strong roof. The beams in the picture which run from one end of the building towards you and across the A-frame are good, as is the A-frame.

However, this is where the fun began. The day after work began, the Mayor of Naves wrote to Simon and I asking what we were doing, did we know it was a listed building, what type of tiles were we going to use etc., enclosing a form to be completed to request permission from the Batiments de France. The letter was very nice really and ended with 'We send you our warmest greetings.'

I filled in the form as best as I'm able, with the aid of iGoogles' on

line translation tool. Also emailed a copy to James and Manuela for them to supply the information about the roof tiles. Unfortunately, all the information I supplied did not 'do the trick' and I had to ask James and Manuela to go and see the Mairie urgently, or we might be in trouble. They're good as gold - made an appointment and went to see the Mairie. Then I had to supply pictures of how the roof was prior to them removing the tiles. As said before, I have always wanted us to use the old fashioned tiles, as I want to maintain the integrity of the building where ever possible. Manuela thinks that we have nothing to worry about, but work has had to stop for a week, whilst we get this sorted out. We certainly don't want to offend the Mayor at this stage.......!

Peter, our Architect has finished the drawing both for the inside and the outside and it just looks so fantastic, that when it's finished, the only problem we might have is that it will look too good/new! I'm sure it will all mellow in and as long as we use the right products, like lime mortar, then it should all work out ok. It will be strange for Dominique and the old chap though, having looked out on a building falling down for however long, (at least 15 years) to suddenly having a property which looks good.

Unfortunately, dont appear to be able to upload them.....

Work Begins........

On Monday 15th June, first work begins.....the old roof is being stripped off and prepared for the new roof being layed. The price which we're at now is much more what we expected and almost half where we started from.

We've also had the plans (initial drawings) from Peter (the architect) and to see the reality of what could be, was so exciting. All the doubts that I'd ha

d in February, sitting in the foyer of the hotel in Clermont-Ferrand centred mainly on how we were going to be able to get upstairs to the bedrooms, avoiding the A frame - (that's the picture in the last blog). We had tried many ways of positioning the stairs, but did not have the brilliant idea that Peter came up with. We suggested a split staircase, but the clever bit is that Peter has extended the 1/2 landing to take you under the beam and then back on yourself, allowing room for the bathroom too - simple when you know how and proves the value of employing an expert.

Undoubtedly, Simon and I could have made it up as we went along, done a very DIY job, buying the materials from the Brico Depot as was suggested to us by the vendors - but when you see what can be done, when people who know what they are doing get involved. Yes, it costs you more. But the end product will be so much more worth while......and as we intend to be there for a long time - v

ery worth while.

I've already planned where my Christmas Tree can stand, in the dining room in the space created as the stairs return on themselves. The space is full height to the roof - and I can decorate down the hand rails with greenery and we'll be so snug and happy.

Mentioning the snug - thats the room that the fire place is in (see left) at a good 5' high, it must be 6'wide. The hole in the centre goes through to the bread oven behind! The story is that the village would come and light the oven in the morning and put their bread in and then come back later, when it was cooked - great history. The room itself is approx 17' sq (not very European yet am I?)

The top picture shows the room above the snug, which also has an 'A' frame which we (Simon and I) had wondered how we were going to get around the fact that only someone of my height, in bare feet, could walk underneath without potentially knocking themselves senseless. We'd decided that this would be a guest room, as people who were not going to stay for more than say 2 weeks, would find it all part of the charm. Again - Peter to the rescue (why didnt I think of something so simple?) The bed is on the wall as you come in, so you only need to negotiate the beam if you want the bathroom. Hope you dont need it in the night, cos that might be when you bang your head!!

And best yet - when we had to pay for the house - we managed 1.104 euros to the pound and were happy, as it meant we just had enough to pay all the purchase and notaire fees. Now, we are getting 1.174 to the pound. It means that our money will go further for all the renovations, cutting down the time it takes us to earn the money to pay for it all plus a reserve :-) That is the bit that is the most exciting - lets hope that the trend carries on for the foreseeable!

The First Fly in the Ointment

We've had a verbal price to replace the roof tiles - 35,000 euros!......

What we have worked out is that as the contractor has to guarantee his work for 10 years, he does not want to be responsible for the old woodwork so has costed to replace everything.

First mistake.  This woodwork is 150 year old oak and if its not rotten now, it's going to be like iron.  As you can see, it's not in that bad condition.  Also the roof is not leaking, so I'm afraid, he is out of the picture.

Got Miss Marple on the case (Simons nick name for me when I'm rooting out the facts.) and we found a lady advertising on the net in the Allier, who was selling new tiles, left over from her roofing work.  Unfortunately, she hasn't answered my email, so as there was a picture on the web page, I went back to it and wrote down the number of the supplier (which was on the plastic sheeting on the packing.)  It wasn't easy to see, so I wrote down all the possible combinations.  Next step was to find a French equivalent of BT enquiries, which I did and was able to put in the telephone number and 'hey presto'!  the suppliers name came up.  Put this name into google, luckily, they did have a website, so then clicked on the link.  Amazingly, they aren't that far from where La Maison Etoile is.  They're just south of Montlucon which is about 40 mins north.......so I emailed them and am waiting for their reply, on how much the tiles are and what would it cost for a 220 sq meter roof.

There are always more ways to skin a cat........

Got room for a bag lady?

Well - second stage, seperation has occured. More to the point - we have sold our house (subject to contract) and will be homeless in the not too distant future! It's very scary, cos there's no going back now...... Not that I really want to, but it's the seperation from the 'mother ship'. Amazing how important it is to know that you have a home.

Actually, I'm overlooking that we do, just not one which is livable!

You can see from this picture that from the front, there is much to do. There is also a small 'dependance' hidden behind the Fig Tree on the right hand side.

The architect thought this was a great building and thinks that they will get this one done first, so that we have a place to stay when we go over in future, to cut down on hotel bills. Its funny really, as this has no roof and the walls are falling down!

We're also planning to trade in my car for a 'Melon Seller' dont think my BM would endear us to the locals, where as a melon seller with the house name on the side as advertising might go down better and I have to say, I quite fancy one!

Finally - we sign on the dotted line

Wednesday 22nd April - We fly into Bergerac Airport and drive 250 km (approx) up to the Auvergne. When we were here in February, we did get a glimpse of the landscape, but the visability was so poor, that we didn't really get the full picture. This time, we came round the corner and - Wow! the spectacle of the landscape just hits you. This picture was take from approx 20 km away and the nearer we got, the more amazing the sights.

23rd April - The day we sign - but due to my not knowing the money laundering laws (why would I?) I had created us a problem by trying to transfer the money for the house to the currency exchange by internet banking - cutting a long story short, we were on tenterhooks right until we arrived at the Notaires office to sign, as to whether the funds had arrived in time. A word of advise for anyone wanting to transfer money to another country - you can only do £10k by Internet banking - so unless you can allow plenty of time for the transfer (say 4 - 5 days) do it by CHAPS transfer.

The process at the Notaires was easy - the whole contract was read out in French - the vendors had supplied an interpreter, so any queries we had could be answered off. There weren't really any, as the house is as you see - nothing hidden. We then went to the insurance company and insured it, as you have to insure property in France, from the day you own it.

We then drove to the house via Clermont Ferrand - at rush hour! Bit of a mistake, as it is slightly stressful!! Still, we got to 'La Maison Etoile" safely and looked over our acquisition. Dominique, our neighbour came out and had a chat and as we went to leave, she kissed my hand, which I found very charming!

Happy Birthday Angela and Simon! - Just cant get a ribbon round it!

Next stage was to meet with builders and architects. We had searched the web and found an excellent site www.findatradeinfrance.com and begun the search so that we could arrange to meet on the visit when we signed. The morning appointment, I'll brush over - suffice to say, we were told that they would apply for a demolition order! Simon and I just looked at each other in disbelief, as we couldn't see the problem. And it's not that we are compete numpties either - I've renovated an old cottage before and I think I would know a wall that was collapsing if I saw it!

The afternoon appointment was much better - so much so, that the next morning, we went with the builder to visit a property that he had renovated and that the architect we'll use had drawn the plans for - the inside of the property, which had been nothing more than a great BIG barn, just blew us away. James - if you deliver a property any a league like that - I'll be happy.....

We then (James, Manuela, Simon and I) went to the bar in Bussac to have a celebratory coffee or two and get to know each other a little better. I hope the relationship can develop that we find we've made our first friends - it certainly felt like it.

So we came home and are now waiting for the prices to start rolling in. First thing first, is to renew the roof and James is working on a couple of prices for us - one to use the old fashioned peg tiles - would look great and is what is on the roof now - but needless to say - more expensive v modern machine made, which I dont fancy.

Peter, the architect is going to visit the Maire for us and discuss what is possible, what type of fosse etc., etc. and from that, will start drawing plans for us.

Here's to the next stage!

23rd April 2009 - A very important day

Not only is it my birthday, but it's the day we will sign the final contract to buy Fig Tree Farmhouse.  We need to decide at some point whether we are going to keep that as a name, or be really clever and think up something else.  Problem with its current name, as far as a business and visitors are concerned, they may think that there will be animals and acres of land.  I think that over the years, the surrounding land has been sold off to what are now neighbours, as their properties are post war, so not original farm buildings.  Plus the old guy opposite has land which wraps itself around our land in an L shape and as it is not connected to his land by any stretch of the imagination, I think it's fair to say that it probably belonged to Fig Tree in the past.

We have arranged to meet with an English architect on the Friday together with a builder who recommended him.  Also meeting with another builder in the morning, who is bringing a French architect with him.  Apparently, we are going to be over a magical number of 170 m2 of habitable space when the conversions are done, so this will require us to have the architect, adding a mere 4K Euro to the costs.  We hope that they will create a 'shopping list' of what the builder will have to do, because it's beyond DIY skills, and a list of things we can do.  I'm sure that as time goes on, our skills will grow.  I know from experience of renovation the cottage in '79/'80 that it is amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.

By the way - above is not just a pretty picture, it's the Puy de Dome, which is a little over an hour from us and as you drive down the A71 to Clermont Ferrand, they are the most fantastic sight.  It's also probably a good vantage point, because once you go through Clermont and out onto the road for the Puy, then you start to loose the breathtaking image, as you climb up the landscape to the Dome......  Another reason for buying in this area, a great visitor experience.  There is a restaurant on the top of one of them (It's been dormant for over 10,000 years.)  We are also only 20km from Volvic and on our first visit, be had to go and search it out.  The bottling factory is enormous!!