New Vs Old Properties

[Loiseau]

Message deleted, as duplicated below by accident!

[Loiseau]

We DIY'd our first holiday cottage (bought with electric light bulb in each room, but no running water).

Moved to a second one done up rather well by friends, and got builders in to do new roof and a couple of extra windows. V picturesque in summer, but a favoured winter residence of wildlife (found a rats' nest in the dressing-table drawer in early days!). Also we didn't take builder's advice to have insulation put in at time of doing roof, so it was impossible to heat out of season.  We used to huddle in one room during winter visits, with open fire, gas-heater and one electric radiator.

Then bought hovel next door and thought we would do it up to exclude wildlife, be insulated etc.  Builder pointed out that with the amount of work to be done, it would be as cheap to push it down and start again.  So it turned out to be new build, on same rather eccentric floor plan.  It's great!  We had them retrieve the big corner stones, and insert them at the corners of the house before the crepi went on.  That was a great idea, as it softens those too-sharp corners and makes it look old.  Also have trad wooden windows (double glazed) and shutters, and trad wooden T&G ceilings inside (known locally as lambris).

I simply *love* character in other people's houses [;-)]  but as the years advance, it's great to have a place where you can arrive, turn the heating on, light the fire, and know the place will warm up rapidly as there are no draughts.

Angela

 

[pugwash]

This thread appears to have cornered the market for cynical masochists, I am beginning to feel somewhat guilty about our 30 year old "pavilion" that needs nothing more than a coat of paint,  will I feel better if I do it with a 1" brush standing on 1 leg ?

[Nicos]

Ha! Pugwash!...

Nope ...you should be really pleased with your choice!!!

You'd feel even better employing a decorator to paint whilst you BBQ and have a beer/ wine with your neighbours!!!![:-))]

[pugwash]

You're doomed if you do, and doomed if you don't,  if I do then he or she will turn out to be colour blind, lazy, will over charge me and never turn up, If I do it myself then it will end up a colour or shade not accepted by the local Maire or the wrong kind of paint, and I will get the fashion police after me

[Tag]

Angela, best piece of common sense I've heard in years. But I thought you were only 21!

Tim

[ceumur]

[quote user="Forum Admin"]

Which do you prefer?

Unspoilt, tailor-made and brand new? Or old, charming and full of character? Have your say....

[/quote]

Does it have to be old to be full of character???

Just design your own and either build it or get somebody who can.

[Loiseau]

[quote user="Tag"]

Angela, ...I thought you were only 21!

[/quote]

 

I usually FEEL 21, which is the important thing!

Angela

[Georgina]

Well we have a block of  apartments (boxes) appear in the last three years near us.  There is just one left.  They are quite expensive but have gone like hot cakes.  When I see the owners coming out on a morning, they look like those cookoos in the clocks.  They have all gone to French people, according to my neighbour. I cannot see what the appeal is myself.  But then it must be the novelty factor, whereas in England, we are used to living in little boxes and now want something better. Each to his own.[:D]

Georgina

[pugwash]

I am told by a very good friend of mine who is French, that this is what they want, new, simple, low maintenance,  and  easy to resell. He tells me me that all the the problem "character" buildings they are saving for us 'rostbiffs', at suitably inflated prices as to what a French person would pay. Your evidence indicates he may be right.

[AnOther]

Could someone kindly educate me as to just what is the infatuation the French have for that most useless item of bathroom equipment, the Bidet ?

I know what it is supposed to be for (I think!) which makes it all the more puzzling to me why one would fit one in a bathroom whilst the actual toilet itself is in a totally seperate room next door. Is one really supposed to waddle round with ones undergarments around one's ankles ?

Do the French actually ever use them and would doing away with a Bidet really compromise a possible future sale to a French buyer [8-)]

[Cherl]

I'm so looking forward to the answers to this one.

[WJT]

That is so funny ErnieY and a very good question. [:D] I have not really thought of that but think it strange that in a bathroom like one of ours there is a bidet but no toilet nearby at all.  I would also like to know if the French still prefer a bathroom with a separate toilet.  That is another one I don't understand because you must open and close a few doors before you are able to wash your hands. [8-)]

[Russethouse]

Isn't Hoddy the bidet expert ?

If you only have one lavatory it makes sense for it to be separate from the bathroom, but you are right about the door handles.....

[cooperlola]

Funny, because I have always wanted one and now I'm here in France I still don't have one!  They strike me as the perfect way to clean up the naughty bits if you're in a hurry!!!

[AnOther]

[quote user="cooperlola"]They strike me as the perfect way to clean up the naughty bits if you're in a hurry!!![/quote]

Only a lady could say that Coops [:D]

Us gentlemen have other options [;-)] but I have to admit that I cannot recall a single occasion in my life when I have been in a hurry and found myself in possession of unclean "naughty bits" [:-))]

[WJT]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

Isn't Hoddy the bidet expert ?

If you only have one lavatory it makes sense for it to be separate from the bathroom, but you are right about the door handles.....

[/quote]

I get very confused about what to call what nowadays, particularly when the French refer to it as toilet. I call the lavatory a room with a toilet/loo and a washbasin/sink to wash your hands. Gay, I assume you are talking about the little 1 metre wide room with the lone toilet. [:D]

[AnOther]

Lavatory or Toilet, different things to different people...................

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavatory

[WJT]

Very good ErnieY, that explains everything. I refer to the fixture itself as a toilet and I don't particularly like hearing the room itself referred to as a toilet.  However a lavatory to me is also a loo, only has a sink and toilet and is not a proper bathroom.

Now getting back to the question do the French still prefer a separate toilet not located in the bathroom? [:)]

[Russethouse]

In the UK we have just had the fun of debating all this lavatory, loo, toilet terminology together with lounge and sitting room courtesy of Kate Middletons mother.........(Prince Williams ex girl friends, mother)

 

[WJT]

O.K. another difference. I say living room, not lounge or sitting room. [:)]

[cooperlola]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_and_non-U_English

Are you U or non-U?(Back to tablecloths again!)

[AnOther]

About 50:50 I'd say and some I'd use either.

OMG I must be a schizophrenic [:-))]

[Gardengirl]

We are in the process of buying an apartment off-plan. There is a toilet in a small room on its own, and a bathroom with no toilet in it. We are having a small wash hand basin installed in the former, and a toilet in the latter, in place of the planned washing machine, which is going in the kitchen! So, yes, in answer to the question, it would appear that the French still go in for having the separate toilet not located in the bathroom! (Apparently at least half of the buyers are French)

A further question - why do washing machines generally go in the bathrooms? 

[suein56]

[quote user="Gardengirl"]

A further question - why do washing machines generally go in the bathrooms? [/quote]

In Brittany - certainly the bit we are in anyway - wash machines are usually found in the garage - that is if the house doesn't have a 'buanderie'.

Sue