La Sansonniere

When people ask me how its going with the project, my answer is usually "yeah great... I think we are probably 80% done... just need around 10k more and it will be all finished in a year or two" I have been saying this for around eight years

The tin roof was not the original roof. A fair percentage of rural homes in Normandy suffered catastrophic roof damage due to storms and the government funded "temporary" roofing assistance hence the many rusty tin roofs... I believe this goes back to the late 1980's?. We found some of the original slates from the previous roof scattered around the garden and as was common at the time of construction, the roof was also battened all over prior to the slates going on, so it originally took a lot of weight. The roof structure consists of a solid 4ft thick central wall front to back which goes right up to the roof. This is stone all the way up to the first floor. There are two beautiful oak cruck trusses spaced out at midpoints between the central wall and the gable ends. The bottoms of each truss are jointed into what I can only describe as trees (one of which still has bark on it) which span front to back, so each truss is in effect a solid fixed triangle We straightened up the gables which now go straight up to the apex so there is more strength in the vertical and we gained more headroom in the attic allowing us to convert the space into a bedroom and a cinema room/den. There is also a 10" thick oak ring beam running right around the top of the cob walls and the front stone elevation. All other joists and purlins and beams were renewed, such that only the cruck trusses remain from the original roof structure and they are around 10" by 5", so they are not going anywhere !! The "design" we came up with in the converted attic spaces means that only those nice architectural oak trusses are visible which means we have a feature in each room and we can also keep an eye on their condition over time. We had a very experienced stonemason and builder in who checked all of our plans and gave us advice about which walls we could open up and where we might need to add additional strength etc which was very re-assuring Cob is an extremely strong load bearing medium but as you mention it doesn't have much "sideways" or torsional strength All the external walls are over 3ft thick so i'm reasonably happy with the structural integrity... or at least I WAS until you asked me LOL :-( I will shortly be spending my fourth consecutive Christmas alone at the house doing more work, so the passion and desire are still there, for me at least...My wife has sensibly decided that she would prefer to be warm in the UK with central heating, furniture, television, mince pies and sherry Cheers Lee

Hmmm... Well it is feasible, so I guess in that sense it is also realistic, but you really need to know what you are letting yourself in for I bought cheap... and I mean REALLY Cheap A stone Faced farmhouse with the remaining three walls being cob above the first 3ft. It was in Normandy so it had the obligatory rusty corrugated roof. Woodworm had claimed all the internal timbers except (Thankfully) for the main roof beams, so there were no floors to the first floor or attic... or stairs. The property had been unoccupied for around 15years, had a dirt floor, perished electrical cabling, no gas connection and no septic tank or mains sewers. The garden was over-run with saplings left unchallenged that had subsequently become young trees... oh and the nettles and thorny brambles..good times !!! The glazing had fallen out of the rotten wooden window frames and the door was just a few scabby scraps of wood with more holes in it than a swiss cheese, so there were mice, and bats and every other small critter you could imagine. There was no heating and just one solitary cold water tap on a bracket in what we fondly called "the kitchen" There was no insulation and nowhere cosy and warm to retreat to when we visited in winter or spring, so we ended up buying some old caravans... one for cooking in and for use as a project office and the other van for sleeping in and storing clothes and equipment. This was 2006 At the time I bought it, I had absolutely no idea how much it would cost to renovate. This was a good thing as ignorance is most definitely bliss. If I had truly understood what work was involved and what costs I would face I would have realised really quickly that it would never be a sound financial investment or a quick project So there is the baseline... ruins are cheap for a reason. The word ruin has two meanings... (NOUN)The houses themselves are ruins.. (VERB) These houses can ruin you... Financially and mentally I travelled the relatively short 350mile distance from NW England to Normandy over 50 times in 12 years Winter, Spring and Autumn; each time with a trailer load of scrounged materials and bargain out-of-season purchases... like loft insulation purchased in summer and gardening equipment purchased in winter. Savings like these can be massively helpful, but still, there is a major cost in time and money if you are doing this kind of project in stages and fragments. You lose the first and last day of any visit opening up the site, unloading the trailer and getting your tools out, with the reverse taking up the last day. You have to time your trips to co-incide with contractor availability and local council office opening times. In the summer it is not unusual to find that timber yards and builders merchants might be closed for 2weeks or even a month for local/national holidays. Shops and council offices also seem to work to a different clock and calendar than you may be used to. There is beaurocracy & red tape everywhere you turn and for non-french speakers, communication can be tough when dealing with agents, notaires, builders, timber yards and specialist trades. Nothing in the DIY stores is familiar when compared with "back Home" Different plumbing fittings, electrical installation regulations and design, different paint, different window styles and unusual architecture to get your head around So there are some of the challenges. You will have your own budget and may be able to plough substantial funds into the work from the outset. You merely have to select good, honest reliable tradesmen or appoint a project manager who will want his pound of flesh and will still need to be "handled" For me it has been 12yrs of being totally consumed by a project which I absolutely love. There is no greater satisfaction than seeing progress and achieving things on your own that you had no idea you were capable of. I have replaced a roof, built staircases, created stud partition rooms, put steel beams and lintels in, fitted doors and windows and installed off grid electricity for power and lights. I have a log burner and 5 of the 9 rooms are now complete. I love my french escape Like anywhere, they can be money pits if you don't research properly. You may not make a single penny when it ever comes to selling the place and years of your life may be lost/dedicated to the challenge but if you find somewhere you love, these things are irrelevant It has been a frustrating, joyful, stressful and satisfying journey so far. I created a website so you can get an idea of the project. We have done a lot more since I last updated it but there are still many more years of expenses to follow http://normandydreams.webs.com/ Good luck lee

I would like to apply for a total makeover on my Normandy property. I would like a local estate agent to come around and be filmed with a clipboard muttering under his breath as he gets stuck up to his ankles in mud and cow pat before declaring that the house is worthless and should be condemmed I would then like to be filmed at the front door arriving back after a weekend away, to be greeted by a B list celebrity who would surprise me (it would be a surprise trust me.. (The front door and the wall it was fitted to fell over 2yrs ago) I could easily show mock surprise and delight as I was shown the new front wall, back wall, gable end and roof. I wouldn't even care if it actually took you a couple of weeks and was edited to look like 2days work. If I also ended up with windows, any form of electrics, a water supply (I don't even expect a fosse) and a new staircase leading to a new first floor, it would be a bonus. I'll buy my own furniture .. or is that included? I could provide all the "Before" photos... I've been taking them for 4 years. I haven't got any "After" photos yet as I usually just go to the house and stare at it before bursting out in hysterical laughter For visuals, there is a hornets nest the size of a double wardrobe in what was the kitchen and the 2 remaining beams in the property have so much woodworm it looks like Stevie Wonder has had a dartboard fitted to them This would all make great television. Imagine the scene.. 24 workmen all crowding round the kettle in my two berth caravan P**sing themselves laughing at what I term my "Dream" I once saw a program about some prat who got the telly people to completely fund his redevelopment costs by allowing it all to be filmed over a complete series. I reckon my "Series" could last longer than Coronation Street !! Maybe I can have the fosse as well after all ?? If you want pictures let me know. they are all taken some distance away as the local maire has said i'm not allowed within 10mtrs of the building for safety reasons.. will that be a problem? I look forward to hearing from you shortly

[quote]Here in the Charente/Charente Maritime, if you like having easy access to rivers, the coast, and if you plan to fly back to the UK, we are surrounded by 5 airports! 4 Ryanair, and Bordeaux, served by...[/quote] I'm not surprised that prices aren't too bad if you have 5 airports nearby !!! Only Joking.. I have friends in that part of france and its lovely. personally I find Normandy a great first choice. I enjoy the same beautiful rolling hills as Northern England and the same temperate climate. it gets as hot as it needs to in the summer. prices are still very decent and a decent spot of land usually accompanies your house. Close enough to the UK by Ferry. like other posters have stated, It depend what you want. To the original poster, i would say the question should really have been "Where's the best place to go on holiday in France?" Its too big a place to generalise, even about each region. take a month out and see a few parts of the country. you'll find somewhere you love sure enough Lee