It was delightful to be working in France again, especially in Normandy. A previous client from 2011-2012 contacted us and said that it was ‘an unusual building.’ That was an understatement! The challenges for Mark involved taking a building from the 1400s that had not been lived in for a significant amount of time and essentially building a new 21st Century house within the old walls.
Nothing was straight or even, there were no internal walls, and the future house consisted of one large open room on the ground floor and a matching open space upstairs when we arrived in November of 2016. After 7 months of hard work, the house now has 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, a huge open kitchen-dining-living space, and the parents’ suite of rooms also includes an office and a dressing room. And that’s JUST on the left side of the conjoined buildings.
Once the owners are ready for another round of renovations, the red brick 1800s house will eventually have a pass through into the newly built house. That wing has another 4 bedrooms and a comfortable living space.
This was a massive undertaking in a very compressed time period. But, it has now become a lovely family home that will last for generations.
The section on the left was the construction zone — built in the 1400s. The section on the right was the 1800s addition and where we lived. Mark’s commute to work consisted of walking out our front door, espresso in hand, and over to the next-door building. Good, eh?
The 2016-2017 ‘Job Site” in Normandy.
Mark on site in December 2016.
The future kitchen.
Original walls in the 1400s house.
Old interior walls made of local mud.
Walls beginning to be created inside.
Master bath at the beginning
Master bathroom work in progress
Upstairs walls being built for 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a storage room, and a passageway.
Rooms being built.
Mark cutting bathroom tiles for one of the 4 upstairs bathrooms.
Newly installed tiles in one of the 4 upstairs bathrooms.
Sanding walls by hand is filthy work.
Mark doing overhead sanding on the new ceilings — April 2017.
Beams — cleaned and waxed.
One of the completed upstairs bedrooms.
Door into future master bedroom in November 2016.
Master bedroom with new walls, painted, with new timber floors installed mid-April 2017.
Flooring installed in office mid-April 2017.
Completed child’s bedroom looking into their private bathroom.
Kitchen floors going down on 18 April 2017 and fire door between 1400s building and 1800s building now installed.
Mark during the FINAL WEEK in Calvados — down to the wire since the owners moved in the following weekend — a full MONTH ahead of the original date!
Huge floor tiles being laid for a 3rd day in a row.
Sponging off the excess grout in a room that is going to be beautifully light and bright.
The 450 kilo Rayburn cooker being delivered at 8 PM on a Thursday night.
End of a VERY long day at 9 PM!
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