We married in 2009, retirement was approaching, and
one of our first priorities was to find a new home capable
of accomodating ourselves and our five adult children
along with their growing families. We listed “essential”
criteria (such as climate, distance to the sea, transport
accessibility) for the location of the house, and then
began the search for a suitable property where all these
criteria coincided.
After many months of searching and driving hundreds of
kilometers we came across our farmhouse. At the time it
was in a terrible state: 75% derelict, 25% revolting! To
make things worse there was a large wood-working
factory attached to the back of the house, but we felt it
had potential …
Our initial plan was to use local craftsmen and have it
ready both to live in, and in part use as a gite by 2011.
Unfortunately the first two builders changed our minds!
The first builder employed undeclared workers and
consequently we had visits from the Social Security and
Police both trying to get their hands on him...
The second builder ran away with a lot of our money,
leaving us with no roof! We then had to wait a year for
the building to dry out. Although we had no experience in
D.I.Y. projects we decided to go it alone.
It has no doubt been slower, and we have probably made
mistakes, but it has been very satisfying and we have
learnt a lot ! We had the roof finished professionally but
all the plumbing, plastering, welding, brick laying, tiling,
masonry, plaster-boarding, and 90% of the electricity are
our own efforts. You can get an idea of the project from
this slideshow.
Beware: it is not for the squeamish!
Judicious use of
Time And Relative Dimensions In Space
technology has created a comfortable en-suite
bedroom in what appears to be
an impossibly small volume.