New openings, more light, and no more bumps on the head

We flew back from France last night and, as promised, here is the latest on progress to-date at Gaulejac.

As I sat down to write this post this morning, I was surprised to find that I did not take nearly as many photos as I expected that I would. I have a couple of good excuses though: between the beautiful work we admired throughout the house and the beautiful weather we enjoyed throughout the week, I was so taken by the reality of the place that I didn't always remember to focus and shoot. Still, I did bring my camera out a couple of times. So, when I say that this was a very exciting visit, you don't have only my word to take for it.

Here then is a brief rundown of what we observed that was new and remarkable, with the occasional photo to illustrate the point (and don't forget: click on photo to enlarge, throughout this blog):

• the roof is done, complete, finished ... and quite beautiful, too. We were particularly pleased with the way the new roof tiles harmonize with the existing lauze ("stone") roofs on adjacent buildings. While there are no new shots of the completed roof, you only need to look at the previous posting, using your imagination to fill in the few blanks, as it was already well advanced a couple of weeks ago;

• the new passage between the kitchen and the dining room has been created and looks terrific, like it's always been there. And on that point, a significant development, as well as a huge relief, was that now that all doors have been resized and brought to modern opening standards, for the first time we were able to walk through all doorways without ducking or bumping our heads against the old low lintels;

For the first time, you can now see all the way through the downstairs area, from one end of the house to the other: looking North from the kitchen, through the dining room, and into the foyer and living room.

• all doors, windows and shutters have been manufactured and fitted to their respective openings, though only frames are in place for now, until all the stone work has been done;

The new bedroom window on the South wall, overlooking the valley.
(Bars visible outside are part of the scaffold erected to finish the stonework.)

• as can be seen on several photos in this posting, studs and insulation were started along walls and gabled ceilings, while we were there, and should be done by the end of this week;

• also while we were there, poplar sub-flooring was being laid through much of the upstairs;

Looking South from the guest-room, across the landing, and into the master bedroom through the newly framed passage.

• and still upstairs, the doorway between the guest-room and the en-suite has been opened.

Looking North through the guest-room, with the brand new brick flue from the living-room chimney and the new doorway leading to the future en-suite.

Before closing, generally speaking, it's worth mentioning that until this visit, we had been concerned sometimes that the house might be dark inside. This is often the case in old stone buildings where windows are few and small, and older materials like dark wood and apparent stone do not reflect light so well. However, I'm happy to report that this is no longer a concern. As can be seen in some of the photos above, new additions like the dormer windows and lighter interior surfaces are making a huge difference.

Finally, during this latest visit at Gaulejac we also explored the surrounding area in a direction we had not taken before: across the valley and up the opposite slope, through the field that we see from our kitchen window, where brown cows graze sometimes . As a result, we gained a whole new perspective on our future home. I did have my camera this time, and was able to snap this sweeping panorama of Gaulejac, as the cows see it.

Looking North from across the valley, Gaulejac in its entirety: our house in the middle, our neighbours the Salomons' house immediately to the right, the farmhouse known as La Perbélie up above to the right, and hidden from view, below our place to the left, a little house that has been sitting empty for several years.
Below: zooming in on the house.

 

On schedule ... am I boring you?

I'm afraid that unless you're us, or a reno freak, this blog may not hold much dramatic tension for you, if it ever did.

Granted, through late December and into the New Year, when work got going, every report and photo brought some radical news: "look, no more roof!" then, "look, new roof beams!" and more recently "wow, a new chimney!". And considering that for more than two years, the question everybody always asked: "has worked started?", invariably got them the same answer: "not yet", I think that to speak of "dramatic" new developments in 2011 was not overstating our case. We could see genuine interest on people's faces.

But lately, as we've admittedly settled into a steady narrative of reasonable expectations and progress according to project calendar, I get the sense sometimes that people are happy to hear that everything is going well, but ... it's almost like it's become routine. The last time someone asked me what's new and I told them excitedly, something like "the North roof is almost entirely tiled!", they smiled, with briefly a puzzled - or was it concerned? - look on their faces, and then I could swear their eyes glazed over.

But take my word for it: to us, it's as exciting as ever. 

Every week, by Wednesday night, if we haven't received any news, one of us is bound to mutter: "Why haven't we heard from him yet?" The "him" in question is architect and general contractor Monsieur François Coq. Every Tuesday afternoon, he holds a site meeting with the trades currently engaged in the project. And within 24-to-48 hours, he emails us a brief but thorough, numbered report (we are up to #13), and usually a few photos - some of which, like the ones below, end up on this blog.

These reports and photos are the high point of our week.

You see, Gaulejac is on our minds most waking hours, and the subject of most of our conversations. The date of our next trip there is like a beacon in the night. So, if we bore you every time we see you, with our endless descriptions, ideas, photos, and plans, please tell us and we'll gladly change the channel. But, as the conversation moves on and we all agree that Chilean wines never disappoint, and how about Stephen Harper, and yes, this new movie is very good ... know that all along, in a corner of our minds ... we're still in Gaulejac. Where we are looking forward to welcoming you soon.

And if you're still interested, per the now customary format of these postings, here are some of the latest photos from Monsieur Coq:

The East wall, with the second chimney almost finished. Below: the same wall, before. 

Note the old roof line, which is still visible in the photo above, where new stonework has just been completed. 

We now have eavestrough!