While the real thing is being built ...

We'll be in Gaulejac next week. This is a special trip as, for the first time, we expect to see big changes on the ground. A lot has happened there since December, when work started.

It's been a long wait but as some of you know, until we can start playing with the real thing, we have the scale model (1/33) of our future Gaulejac home, which we started bulding this summer (click photos to enlarge).

When we return, early March, you can expect a major update, with stories and photos. But until then, enjoy the model ...

Ground floor - l. to r.: living room, dining room, kitchen, Nancy's room.

Upper floor - l. to r.: guest room, landing and library, master bedroom and en-suite.



Upper floor, with the master bedroom and en-suite in the foreground




Front (facing South)



Courtyard side (West side)

Merci du joli coup de main Alexandre!

The roof is taking shape

The latest weekly report included some photos of the exposed roof frame, some showing the old beams, others brand new wood. They were taken earlier this week.

The finished frame should be a mix of exposed, old (i.e. attractive antique-looking) pieces, and new (i.e. structurally more reliable) lumber to be either hidden or "antiqued".

The front of the house, with the kitchen (below) and master bedroom (under the roof) above on the left, and the window to the future laundry room on the right, above which will be our ensuite.

The central part of the house, between the two bedrooms. The building on the right is the neighbours' house.

 Inside the courtyard (looking from the door of the atelier). In the foreground will be the guestroom, while at the back, beyond the green tarp, is the master bedroom. The roof beyond, on the left, is that of the neighbours' house, visible in the preceding photo.


Also in the last report, we read that window and door frames will be installed in the next couple of weeks and that floors are still at various stages of completion or preparation.

To sum up: work is proceeding according to the calendar -- we're on track!

Latest update

Sorry, there are no new photos at this time.

Work is progressing as planned. In brief:

• Floors throughout the ground floor area are at various stages of completion: concrete has been poured or is about to be poured in various areas on the ground floor; rock still needs to be removed in one spot. It is not clear what's happening upstairs; likely not much yet until the roof is completed.
• Not surprisingly, in the North East corner of the living room, situated slightly below ground level, provisions will need to be made to keep moisture away. "Not surprising" because we still recall seeing, on one of our very first visits, water pooling in that area - enough to attract a frog and for ferns and moss to grow there! So, it was expected and planned for since the beginning and we're confident that once everything is in place (culvert in back of the barn, eves on the roof, drainage trenches all around the house, etc.) and with the floor and wall in that area being built accordingly, there will be no moisture whatsoever in the house.
• Beams and trusses are being assembled and roof tiles have been delivered.
• The carpenter is starting to work on the door and window frames.
• Lintels are being raised above all doors. As in most traditional dwellings, to keep heat loss to a minimum, doors were built to about 5'5" height. I'm already looking forward to being able to walk around the place without bumping my head now and then. It was either that, or having to wear hard hats at home, but we couldn't find any in the right style and colour.

Our next trip is all planned for the February 21-25 week. Can't wait.

Auriac-du-Périgord

On our last trip to the Dordogne, six weeks ago, we explored Auriac-du-Périgord, the nearest village to Gaulejac. It is a pretty little medieval town, definitely worth a visit.

Auriac is located about 1.5 kilometres north of our place, over the ridge that separates the two small valleys. With a population of just over 400 souls, it doesn't have the resources of neighbouring Montignac, 4.5 km to the south-east (see September 30, 2009 posting below). With its weekly market, two banks, post office and four boulangeries, and a population of more than 3,000, Montignac will be our main town.  But Auriac makes up for its more modest profile with considerable charm.

This time, we only drove through, as the weather was cold and rainy. But we liked what we saw and look forward to visiting it on foot in the spring.

The bridge at Auriac-du-Périgord, over the Laurence river (a stream, really). This is the road which leads to the back of our place. (Photo courtesy of the Auriac-du-Périgord website.)

The drive is short, but not for the faint-hearted. It starts out well enough. Driving out of Auriac,  the road is narrow and soon ascends steeply, twisting between houses on the outskirts, then through the woods, but at that point it is still well-paved, as in the photo above. Soon, however, as it levels out and crests the ridge, it makes a sharp turn to the right, and changes to an unpaved rural path.

Then begins the descent into "our" valley, and for most of the last two or three hundred meters, it is a narrow and deeply rutted track, more like a logging road than a highway. I half expected our rental VW Golf to scrape bottom or worse, get stuck. But we made it safely to Gaulejac after all, relieved and rather pleased with our adventure and discovery of this new destination.

We'll think twice before repeating the driving experience. But we're looking forward to the hike.

Check out Auriac-du-Périgord's lovely website at http://auriac-du-perigord.fr/fr/village/index.html. I recommend the slide show: look up to the left of the screen, under "Visite guidée en photos", and click on "Haute définition".

Demolition continues

It's official: the bats have received their eviction notice.

Demolition work is in full swing. The kitchen floor is gone, and so is the roof. Below are some rather dramatic photos from the latest site update. 

Plunging, 2-storey view from the kitchen into the "cave" (cellar), resulting from the removal of the kitchen floor. The old wine press vat is now fully exposed, as is the dividing line between the kitchen's plaster-and-paint wall and the cellar's bare stone below, that will be visible until the new floor is installed.

In the living-room area, the ground has been dug down to achieve required ceiling height and floor depth, as can be seen in the two photos below.

Our future living room. The hillside contour, where stone meets rock, is clearly visible on the wall opposite. And the old stairs, awaiting removal at right, lay where the passage to the powder room and the new stairs will be located.



Judging from the light filtering through the boards of the second floor (soon to be rebuilt), the roof is gone indeed.

According to the architect's latest report, tarps cover the entire roof structure for the time being. The carpenter is working on the roof frame, combining existing and new beams, and the roofer is awaiting a shipment of new tiles we selected on our last visit.

Next, the ground floor is to be built up and the plumbing contractor will then lay the heated floor's network of pipes.

Work has begun!

After all this time, we can finally say: "Yes, work has begun!"

True, the outcome so far is somewhat underwhelming. Still, these are significant and necessary steps before the actual restoration work can begin.

What has happened is that workers have been digging and ripping, in and around the house, in preparation for the more creative work to begin. So, floors are being dug down and levelled in various areas of the ground floor, and ceilings have been ripped to expose beams and other structural elements.

Of course, it is also at this stage that surprises - good and bad - can come to light.

But reports so far are positive and there are no major setbacks. Beams that have been exposed appear to be sound. At the same time, it looks like the rock base is higher than expected under the dining room and, as a result, there will likely be a couple of steps between the dining room and the kitchen while initial plans had both rooms on the same level; we can probably live with that.

The crew kindly sent a few photos (click on photo to enlarge):

Part of the old stone elements removed temporarily from the side of the kitchen fireplace, to be reinstalled in time.

Exposed dining room ceiling, beams and upstairs flooring underside.

The fireplace in the small room off the kitchen. A pleasant surprise?
Behind the "modern" wood and brick exterior, an older, more rustic stone fireplace has been revealed.

Site meeting

Late last month, we met with the architect and the contractors at Gaulejac. This was the initial site meeting where we had a chance to meet the people who are going to do the work for us. Hands were shaken, contracts were signed and stamped, terms were confirmed and agreed upon, as was the work calendar.

In spite of the -4 C temperature, spirits were high.

The day after the site meeting ...

Work is starting in January or possibly later this month, with an estimated completion time of mid-September.

Next trip will probably be in February, for the first inspection. By then, most of the tearing down (floors and parts of the roof frame) and digging (drainage and waterproofing of the foundations) should be done.

We have asked everyone to contribute photos as often as they can to help us document future postsings.

Read all about it in the Globe & Mail

No doubt, this story from the travel section of today's Globe and Mail will draw a few more tourists to the area. They're all welcome, I'm sure. There's plenty of hiking trails, chateaux and quiet streets, as well as truffle, foie gras and Bergerac wine for everybody.

Dean Jobb writes:

"There's an old story that God ordered one of his saints to cover France with châteaux like this. Exhausted after laying out Versailles, Fontainebleau and other sprawling royal palaces, the saint knocked off early and dumped the rest here, in the Périgord. It's a charming explanation for the hundreds of castles that dot this laid-back region of southern France, a few hours' drive inland from Bordeaux, where visitors can tour a prehistoric cave, stand on medieval ramparts and float down the meandering Dordogne River – all in one day."

The Dordogne River at La Roque-Gageac

Not just a "charming explanation". An amazing feat, even for a deity, when you consider that the region's medieval forts predate the chateaux of the Loire Valley by a few hundred years. But then again, time does seem to stand still in the Dordogne.

Read more from "Explore the Frenchman's paradise"

Final plans

Click to enlarge.

To answer the question everyone is asking: no, work has not yet begun on the ground.

But on paper, things are looking very good. For instance, above is the sketch of the South side of the property, as it will appear post-restoration. Note, the covered area on the left. Located directly outside the kitchen, it will make a fine spot where we can sit and dine while enjoying a lovely view of the valley, down below and to the East.

We had a very productive trip, late April early May. And the period since then has seen some progress, too. Briefly:

• We had three in-depth meetings with the architect during which we ironed out the last wrinkles and signed off on the plans:

The South wall. Note the covered patio described above. (Click to enlarge)

The West elevation (i.e. the house, seen from inside the courtyard).

Note the dormer windows, and the terraced yard.

Interesting also to compare with the earlier sketch posted in December. (Click to enlarge)

•  We visited many suppliers and are now very close to selecting materials, appliances, doors and windows.
• Flooring will likely be as follows: chestnut in most rooms and on the stairs; stone in the kitchen; and tiles in the bathrooms.

 Other areas where progress is being made:

• The building permit application is in.
• Applications are being processed for water and power to be reconnected at the site in time for the work to start.
• We're going back for a week at the end of June, to ensure that everything is on track for work to begin in the Fall.

New floor plans

We received the revised floor plans this week.

The stairs now follow a more conventional design, with the first step roughly in the middle of the foyer and in line with the front door, leading to the first flight up to a half landing against the back wall. They take up more space than in the original plans, but the living room is still a good size at more than 20 m2.

Also, the guest bathroom is now located in the West end of the barn, as we had suggested. It will require a new doorway through the barn stone wall, and a couple of steps down from the guest bedroom, which is now more spacious, in spite of the extra volume taken up by the upper half flight of stairs.

We still have a few revisions and ideas that we want to explore. So, we're taking a few days to review them, taking notes with changes, requests and suggestions that we'll return next week for the architect to incorporate into the next, and quite possibly final, version. It's getting very close to sign-off.

The next step will be the development of the engineering plans, followed by the production by the architect of an itemized program listing every board, length of pipe and door knob, as well as labour, that will be required to make all this a reality.

Our next trip there is still planned for April.

New sketches

Things are beginning to take shape, at least on paper.

Last month we received the first set of floor plan sketches from the architect, and last week, the elevation sketches. Below is the West elevation: the roof profile has been made consistent over both halves of the house; and the existing openings are just more fully defined; but it's the appearance of the dormer windows that really transforms the look of the place.

We are now looking forward to the revised version of the floor plans, based on the commentaries and queries that we returned to the architect last month. Generally speaking, we are happy working around the existing layout, with some minor adjustments here and there. However, the stairs' design and location are going to require some fine tuning.

The architect will be filing the building permit application early in the new year and he has promised us the revised floor plans before Christmas.

About the property and the surrounding area ...

It’s a typical Périgord farm where the house, the barn and two animal sheds form a square courtyard accessed through a gate. All buildings are stone; in fact, even the roof on the barn and one of the animal sheds are covered with “lauze”: small, flat stones, typical of that area. The slide show includes some close-ups of a lauze roof.

Two walls of the house itself are partly covered with crumbling stucco. In the early 20th c., stucco was considered more genteel than plain stone, deemed too rustic-looking. But underneath is the same lovely honey-coloured stone, typical of the area, that was left exposed on the other buildings. The stucco will be scraped off as part of the restoration work.

Overall the property is about 3 acres, partly wooded, on the North slope (hence S. exposure) of a small valley that is all meadows, woods and small farms on either side of a brook. The nearest town, about 4 Km away, is Montignac.

Montignac is an ordinary, pleasant country town on the banks of the Vézère river. It has a population of about 3000, and a farmers’ market twice-a-week, year-round. Montignac is best known for the Lascaux (prehistoric painting) caves, located just outside the town.

The nearest major city is Bordeaux, a two-hour drive due West on the A89 freeway.

And, only 20 minutes down the road, is fabled Sarlat ...

Bonjour!

Ce blog vient en réponse à l'intérêt de nos amis et proches et à leur désir d’être tenus au courant de l’évolution de notre projet de restauration de Gaulejac dans les mois à venir.

Cet intérêt est particulièrement marqué de ce côté de l’Atlantique, vu l’exotisme de Gaulejac du point de vue de Toronto ou de Vancouver. Il est donc fort probable que les rubriques seront principalement en anglais. Mais il est entendu que chacun s’exprimera dans la langue de son choix. Vive le bilinguisme!

Quant à la fréquence des mises à jour, pendant certaines périodes, comme par exemple quand les travaux auront commencé (au courant de l'hiver), elles pourraient être hebdomadaires. Mais dans l'ensemble, elles devraient se limiter aux progrès des travaux et aux questions relatives à notre transit.

En attendant de pouvoir vous recevoir à Gaulejac, je vous invite donc à consulter notre blog autant que vous le désirerez et à y apporter vos observations, questions ou commentaires.

À suivre …

We bought a property in the Dordogne!

An old farmhouse on a few acres of partly wooded land, it has sat empty for many years. The foundations and the structure are sound and have never been altered. Think of it as a blank canvas for the would-be restorers that we are about to become.

The restoration is our retirement project and the finished product will become our retirement home, in a few months.

Since we announced our plans, we found happily that many of our friends and relatives share our excitement. And that's the point of this blog: to share with them the evolution of our project.

And so it begins.