Here are some of the latest pics of the house.
After almost 6 years in the making, we finally got to live and sleep in the house. It was short, less than a week, but it was amazing and kind of surreal. It has this incredible feel one can find in most ‘eco-houses’ i.e. houses built with natural materials and energy-efficiency in mind. The house is super quiet, bright and very comfy. Even though, we are still missing a lot of furniture and decoration, the space in itself and the views are enough to entertain one for hours simply by sitting on the window ledge looking out to the valley or mountains.
We had our first dinner party with family and neigbours and filled the 18-people dining table. It was such a joy for us and my parents (who’ve followed and supported us through this journey) to see this space finally being enjoyed and coming ‘alive’ with people, conversations, laugthers, food and drinks.
Over the next few months, we’ll finish the furnishing and decorating of the house and will start accepting bookings. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in staying in our house and exploring its surroundings.
Although Ludovic and Edward have been busy with their son’s arrival, Ludovic’s dad had been hard at work on the house. We also hired someone to help with the masonry on the interior stone wall and all the inner walls (these are the red brick walls).
Right now the walls are composed of stone, then a layer of recycled wine bottle cork, then a layer of brick filled with sand and earth for mass. This provides an even temperature inside the house whether it is cold or hot outside.
The main task for the next two weeks is to complete all the inner walls for the upstairs. All the walls for the downstairs have been completed over the last 12 months. For the upper floors, this involves measuring the floor plans for the bedrooms and bathrooms, raising the walls and covering them with drywall. We have decided to go for the best sound insolation possible: (1) we glued felt pads to the wood track on the floor, (2) we are building the walls below the floor joists (joists have not been added yet) – to prevent lateral sounds transmission (3) we staggered the studs and made sure that one side of the wall is not touching the other side, and (4) one of the walls will have a double layer of drywall. We need to get most of the walls finished so that the plasterer can start on June 24.
Some panoramic shots courtesy of the iPhone (click image to see a larger picture):
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Downstairs – living room and dining room |
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View from the dining room into the kitchen and living room |
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View of the upstairs – bedrooms and bathrooms walls are still to be built |
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Another view of the upstairs |
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Some progress on the upstairs walls by the end of the first week |
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Exterior view – North side |
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Exterior view – South side |
Although Ludovic and Edward have been busy with the arrival of their son. Ludovic’s dad, Michel has been hard at work on the house. We also hired Patrice to help Ludovic’s dad with the masonry and all the inner walls (you can see these as the brick walls).
Right now from the outside, we have stone, then a layer of re-cycled cork, then a layer of brick filled with sand and earth for mass. This provides an even temperature inside the house whether it is cold or hot outside.
The main task for the next two weeks is to complete all the inner walls for the upstairs. All the walls for the downstairs have been completed over the last 12 months. This involves measuring the floor plans for the bedrooms and bathrooms, raising the walls and covering them with drywall. We have decided to go for the best sound insolation possible: (1) we glued felt pads to the wood track on the floor, (2) we are building the walls below the floor joists (joists have not been added yet) – to prevent lateral sounds (3) we staggered the studs and made sure that the walls are not touching, and (4) one of the walls will have a double layer of drywall. We need to get most of the walls finished so that the plasterer can start in a week.
Here is a look inside the house at the end of July.
On our last visit to France, Ludovic and I stayed in the cottage extension that Michel, Ludovic’s dad, had built as an extension to their house. Michel had sourced the lumber for the cottage from a supplier who had not properly treated the wood for pests. During the night, we could hear the sounds of capricorns slowly eating away at the wood.
What likely happened was that capricorns had already laid their eggs in the wood, and the larvae was eating their way out.
I asked Ludovic how we could avoid this situation with our building, specifically if there was a way to treat the wood in an ecological manner. His response surprised me. He said, as a start, that the trees for the lumber would be cut in accordance to the lunar calendar. Initially I thought he was joking, but he persisted….
As I started my Internet search on this topic, it appears that the practice of farming according to the lunar cycle started with the ancient Romans. Even so, I have not found any source (at least on English websites) how harvesting timber according to the lunar cycle would prevent bug infestations….
Our carpenter, Michel, will be harvesting the timber according to the lunar cycle….
What else are we doing to properly treat the wood? We will be spraying all the lumber with a borax solution. Warm water is used to dilute the borax and increase absorption onto the wood. Some lumber will be treated before installation and some will be treated right after it’s been installed. Typically, two coatings of borax solution will be applied.