Happy New Year everyone!
When I started this blog, dear readers, we were living in the château, where we stayed for 3 years. Then we bought a very old stone house in a nearby village and jumped into a (too big!) renovation.
Well that was over a decade ago, and I haven’t really gotten around to talking about our house! So, this week, for your viewing pleasure, I present the “befores”, and in the next post the “afters”.
Good stone country houses with charm are difficult to find in Burgundy (and in most of France, for that matter). These are in good supply but there aren’t many for sale. I looked for a full year after we moved into the château. Then one day, I came home and posted this note on the front door for Ron, who was out cycling:
This house “ticked all the boxes”, as the Brits like to say. Great location 10 minutes from Cluny, in the middle of a quiet perched village and (bonus!) across from a gorgeous 14th century church. Mostly covered by aged crépi (stucco), there were hints of beautiful golden stone peeking through. It had a front covered galerie, a pigeionnier, a million dollar view, underground power lines. It had a large barn on one side with gates between house and barn, so it formed a sort of compound. The barn was big enough for cars and then some. The yard was a manageable size. Two other barns attached to the main house could be transformed into a grand great room. It faced south, very important in our climate. The price was unbelievably low.
There was this one teeny tiny issue: it needed EVERTHING. We’re talking a house with no kitchen or bathroom (great stone outhouse, though). It was essentially a very sturdy shell . But we’d done renovations in Charleston, right? Piece of gâteau!
We were in denial, of course, that we had bitten off a bit more of that gâteau than we could chew. It became our full-time job for the next two years, and in addition to a lot of personal sweat equity (and that of our friends: thank you, Pete, Monty, Jean-Marie, Benito, Joan, Richard, Pierre…), we supported a number of French artisans for a while.
A friend who stopped by to see it right after the sale blurted out, "THIS is your dream?!" But there’s a happy ending to this story, in the next post. The photos below will give you an idea of what the 'getting there' was like:
Don't miss the "afters" in the next post! If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe by adding your email in the upper left hand corner.
In the COMMENTS: Thank you all for the wonderful holiday wishes. Natalia, a big welcome and gros bises to Ari and Elley! Mary, I see that donkey in the Cluny market, toting kids and shopping bags around, most every Saturday in summer when the weather is fine. Jane, my mouth is watering–I'm dead impressed with your menu. And a whole pig's head? Oh la LA!
Favorite READS: dear friends gave me a a wonderful cat-lover's book, called The French Cat, by Rachael Hale McKenna. It's full of beautiful photos and fun quotes about cats. Like this one, from Hippolyte Adolphe Taine: "I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior."
25 thoughts on “Grand Designs in Burgundy: We Renovate a House!”
What an amazing post with your impressive photos of your now gorgeous home. I had no idea your renovations were so extensive. Quelle courage! Bravo, your hard work paid off so beautifully.
Wow! Our dreams can come true, but the process in which they do isn’t always how we imagine. What an incredible amount of hard work, but what memories and great rewards! Thank your for sharing!
Congratulations! So much hard work & dedication! Such a beautiful reward!
What an undertaking.
we have had huge renovations on our house, but with the aid of builders.
Like you, it was all worthwhile though.
I love the pic of the sink (the only evidence of a kitchen). When I think back to the shotgun house in New Orleans where I grew up, a sink was the main evidence of a kitchen. The house had been built in 1908, there was a connection to a chimney for a wood stove. By 1941, my mother had a gas stove, an ice box (not a fridge), and an electric bulb hanging from the ceiling. There was a pantry, but no cabinets, no counters. She prepared all those delicious meals, chopping the veggies on the table we ate on. They lived in that house until 1967.
Based on the magic you worked with your Charleston homes, I know this one will be stunning as well. Will it also be featured in a magazines? We can’t wait for the next post.
I think ‘careening through a forest in a golf cart’ has to take a back seat to Lynn with hammer drill! And to think how impressed I was with the repointing. You are amazing-a true Renaissance woman! And it was all worth it. You turned a group of stone barns into a charming, comfortable, beautiful, well appointed country French home – which is actually in the French countryside! Great vision, well executed and fabulous results. I think we would all agree you need to turn this into a book! You already have a cover shot ( and I don’t mean the house!)
This is fascinating! Eager to see the “after”! Bon année-
Anne
Everything Ellen said… very impressive Lynn! Looking forward to upcoming posts.
Ellen may be first on the list to buy the book , I would like to be second. My mental image of y’all in a grand chateau has been expanded. The photos are especially interesting. “Good with a jackhammer” should be an important part of your resume. It is very informative in terms of the stuff that you are made of. So important to be multidimensional as well as multitalented.
Anne
Wow! Respect to you both.
You might like this extract from Michael Wright’s true account, “C’est La Folie” of undertaking a similar project.
“I will soon learn that there are five levels of manhood in the French estate agent’s virility test:
1. Rénovée: I am a rich cissy.
2. Petite travaux: I’l weild a paintbrush if you promise not to wobble the ladder.
3. À finir: I watch DIY shows on the telly and have my own hammer drill.
4. Habitable: who needs a bathroom when your tool belt is as big as mine?
5. À rénover: I am a fearless caveman, skilled in the black arts of the mason, the roofer and the plumber, and I only visit the blacksmith when I have a problem with my teeth.”
Bonne rénovation!
Hurry with the after pictures. I can’t wait!
Can’t wait!
OMG Lynn,huge felicitations to you for such a job well done!
And gorgeously so!
BRAVO!!(UNDERSTATEMENT!)
I only wish we had the courage to tackle such a project!
Thank you for sharing this with us,especially the pictures.
Only one word will due to describe you:AWESOME!
Thank you,too,for sharing our joy for Elley and Ari-and for the gross bises(which they are sending back!)
At the moment their mission seems to be(giving heart failure to us)
find anything and everything to chew,then swallow!
Your introductory photo says to me: “It’s a good thing you can’t see me behind this mask, because I’m not happy.” But all told, I’m thinking you did a wonderful job. I look forward to more photos of the finished product, though we’ve all had a hint here and there. You are brave folks!
Bonne annee a vous deux.
Chris
Give a real woman a power tool and. . . STAND BACK!
OMG I can’t wait to see the after photos because all I see is ruins! I know you are (were?) renovating but all I see is all the work that had to be done. You have to be incredibly talented to take on this work but even more impressive, you have a fantastic ability to imagine what can be. So hurry with the after photos!
Bravo Lynn and Ron,
What a great project. 👍👍 We can relate.
Our place was once like what you described but after lots of work and sweat,
now a much loved and comfortable French country farmhouse in the Normandy countryside.
The end product is very satisfying and always a work in progress. Bon courage.
Can’t wait to see the after photos.
Happy memories Lynn, we were all at it. I Remember Ron saying to Pete he was his first friend who owned his own cement mixer. No wonder we needed to drink so much wine.
I look forward to seeing the “after” photos! Reminds me of the job I’ve done restoring my 230 year old adobe ranch house outside of Taos, NM!
You and Ron are very brave to tackle such a project! I am very impressed and looking forward to your next post very much indeed. There should be a book in the making for this project.
Oh Lynn – if we only had the energy to do it again! Nothing like living the dream and not regretting things. Here’s to enjoying the fruits of all those hours and hours of fun labor. Happy New Year!
What an incredible project you undertook Lynn! I’ve done restorations numerous times but not on an old chateau as this. That rock restoring you’re doing looks like an overwhelming dirty job. You & your husband are very very brave.
I anxiously await to see the “after” photos.
Lynn, I forgot to say that the first photo could have the caption “Come on Punk, make my day!” Sorry about the silly comment, but I just had to add it. I know the final product after all of your work will be a beautiful home with all of the wonderful French ambiance!
WOW, I would love to have seen that house.