Introducing the Cottage des Hortensias

Some of you may have noticed  that over the Christmas break I added our new self-catering cottage to the website. 

Called the Cottage des Hortensias (because of the magnificent Hydrangea that sits in the courtyard), it’s a 2-story, 3-bedroom, 2-bath accommodation that sleeps six. Located a stone’s throw from the château, it used to be the concierge’s house and abuts the back of the farm that used to be part of the estate.

We had been wanting to renovate it ever since we moved here, but it always seemed a daunting task. Unlike the other cottage, it hadn’t been lived in for years and was in a state of acute disrepair. So we kept putting it off, until just over a year ago. 

Inspection showed that the roof and structure were very sound, so we decided to take the plunge and renovate and remodel from top to bottom. First, we knocked down flimsy partitions and removed all the old plumbing and wiring. Indoors, we brought everything up to code, insulated the heck out of it, and totally modernized it. Outdoors, we transformed the overgrown courtyard into a private patio.

Once the tradesmen had left, Virginie set about working her decorating magic, mixing modern and old, as she loves to do, while I took care of the final finishings and carrying heavy pieces of furniture. The result is a very warm, light-filled house with old, natural hardwood floors. 

We invite you take a look at the photos. And please let us know if you have any questions. In the meantime, these two photos give you an idea of the before and after. 

BEFORE: Living area seen from kitchenAFTER: Living area seen from kitchen

We have lift-off

It’s been a while, but we have a really good excuse. Here it is:

We are about to begin a full renovation of the old concierge’s cottage. For the past couple months Virginie has been arm-wrestling contractors, slashing red tape and herding bankers. We finally have all our ducks in a row. The estimates are signed and the first checks have been cut. Work is scheduled to begin in early February and last 2 months. And that doesn’t count decoration and furnishing. 

Starting from less than scratch

The cottage has been unoccupied for over two decades. There’s no power, but luckily there is water. The roof is happily in great shape, but the inside is a mess.  To weatherproof it, just after Christmas we installed the new windows. To help us see clearly, we ripped out all the fixtures and fittings and demolished some non-load bearing walls. This is the kind of thing we’re facing:

To get an idea of where we’re starting from, here’s a collection of “before” photos.

The aim is to end up with a 3-bedroom, two-bath self-catering cottage. Wish us luck!

Here we go again

After renovating the self-catering cottage du potager in 2007 we’re getting ready to tackle our next project: the old groundskeepers house. It hasn’t been lived in since probably the 1960-70s and is need of some serious work. We’ve tentatively named it Hortensia cottage, in honor of the large bush you can see in the photo above. This is the courtside view of the house. We discovered the paving stones recently during one of my son’s archeological excavations.  

If you’ve stayed with us before, you might of noticed this building, situated to the right of the chateau. Then again, you might not have, as it is hidden behind a very obstreperous hedgerow. 

Over the past few weeks we’ve been interviewing contractors and discussing estimates and options (which explains the blog’s torpidity). The new windows are scheduled to go in by the end of the year and, fingers crossed, the rest of the work will be done in early 2011. In the meantime, we’ve been ripping out the old fittings and partitions, stripping it down to a bare shell. 

Stay tuned.