Converting Old Properties In Brittany France.
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Converting Old Properties in Brittany, France
Exploring the Charm and Challenges of Renovating Historic Homes
I recently spent the day clearing mud from between the stones of our home in Brittany. This mud was used in place of lime or cement mortar, which were either unavailable or unaffordable when the house was originally constructed.
This task offered plenty of time to reflect on the considerations needed when modernizing an old house.
In Brittany, preserving a home in its original state while making it livable is quite challenging. The memories of those earlier times have mostly faded with the people who experienced them?"memories filled with tales of harsh weather, cramped spaces, cold, and hardship. While modern updates help us avoid these inconveniences, they also risk erasing the spirit of these old places.
Ironically, one feature we?"and many others?"choose to keep is the dated front door lintel. Our French neighbors often mention that such artifacts were looted from local manors during the revolution.
The upper stories of these old homes were traditionally used as granaries, inhabited only by mice feasting on stored goods. Today, these spaces are transformed into bedrooms, either boxed in as typical rooms or left open up to the 15-foot ridge, as we’ve done in part of our home.
The original walls were initially rough, potentially lime-washed each spring to control bed bugs that lived in them. Today, we insulate these walls and cover them with plasterboard inside, while pointing them on the outside to avoid a "wedding cake" appearance. We've chosen to let the natural beauty of the stones speak for themselves on the exterior. Inside, we preserve some wall unevenness and leave party walls with neighboring houses as they are, with the rest covered in plasterboard that follows the wall contours.
Roofs in Brittany were usually slated, but the old slates have largely vanished. Although they were often of poor quality, even the smallest slates found use near the roof ridge. Like almost everyone else, we've replaced them with Spanish slates, as French slates from Monts d’Arree or Trélazé in Anjou are reserved for the wealthy.
For flooring, we’ve embraced modern practices, replacing traditional "terre battue" (beaten earth) with tiled concrete. Interestingly, terre battue is remembered in dances called "pile menu," which mimicked the process of consolidating the earth.
Modern amenities like water, gas, electricity, and telephone make life more convenient, yet we often think of the last farming family that lived here. All four daughters moved on to better opportunities, and the only remnants of farming life are a plough and a harrow at the bottom of our garden.
How can we genuinely honor those who led such difficult lives? It’s a question that lingers as we bring this old house into the future.
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