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May Time
So here’s the latest. We have decided to follow the Mediterranean style of building the Bergerie upside-down, with sleeping space on the ground floor and living / eating space on the first floor. In theory this means that we can use the natural light from the largest window and any skylights we put in during […]
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VISITORS
Thanks Monti Bianco (Debs) Â you beast for getting me into gear on this front! We have had lots of interest from family and buddies some who are very keen to come and visit, lend a hand, sample the local wine, eat the yummy cheeses, wander in the mountains, or just to get away and see […]
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Information sharing & useful links
Many thanks to Matthew and Esther Phillips for their information sharing on the eco front. They have sent through a couple of links which are really useful:- http://www.kyocerasolar.de/products/solar_faq.html which is an easy read FAQs on photo voltaics. http://www.naturalinsulation.co.uk/cms_items/20060607164406.pdf which is the result of research paper about making buildings 'breathable' and why it's better all-round than the […]
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Christmas News
So, tiz Boxing Day, after a very Merry Christmas Day in The Chamonix Valley. Long lunch with champagne sitting in the sun up the mountain gave us lots of thinking time and ideas. Chatting with Keith & Lyn, we discovered a few people in the valley have already invested in various eco friendly systems. We […]
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The Roof
We have the plans back from the architect so need to pass them onto the structural engineer. Gonna get them scanned and put them up here for anyone interested. Current thinking is to use salvage slate for the roof covering as this is what it would have been originally. There are a few slates around […]
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Update
So, we have found a friendly architect who is doing drawings for us. Well actually he is a student architect who has jumped at the opportunity to earn beer money. Fantastic, we like. Also got a structural engineer onboard who is going to design the roof. Martin Ward is happy to be paid in wine! […]
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Eco Concepts
Essentially we are starting with a very solid but basic shell of a building with no power, water, sewage, post box and most of a roof. The intention is to fix it up in such a way that it can be self sufficient once the roof is fixed. For us this is quite a challenge […]
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So It’s now ours
Having parted with the cash the Bergerie is now ours! Received the paperwork today and broken open the fizz. A lovely pink number went down very nicely, followed by another.
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The Purchase
Things in France just seem to take time. So we have finally sent money over to complete the purchase of the Bergerie. Now we wait for something to come back. We spent about ten days over there in October and measured up as best we could. We also managed to get a couple of really […]
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In The Beginning…
Once upon a time there was this small, derelict, stone building, up in the mountains and miles from any other habitation. The gorgeous views, and the several acres of land that belonged to it, made it irresistible … Front view looking up the slope Another front view looking up the slope Running water at the […]