Maison Laudiere has been a major restoration project which is still ongoing.  Below is a small insight into the work that has been done so far.  We will update the website as and when new projects have been completed.

                                          

The roof was not the best when we bought the house so a complete new roof was ordered.  Most of the original oak woodwork was preserved except the centre section which was too far gone to keep. To the front of the house there is a well that used to supply all the water to the house, now re-designed and only used to water the garden, etc. The area to the front of the house is now finished allowing for parking of several vehicles and although a gravel type finish it is solid enough for motorcycles -  I ride mine on it with no problems.

                                         

Bedroom 'Lotus' before and after.

                                     

  

Bedroom 'Lavande' before and after

A new upstairs floor was also fitted allowing us to convert the loft into two good sized rooms both with en-suites. At the same time, a hole was knocked through the wall in the loft to allow access into the original part of the house, giving us greater flexibilty and allowing us to offer self-catering with one or two bedrooms.

                                          
                                                                                                               

When we bought the house, the oldest part (the left hand side) was in a pretty poor state as the roof had been open to the elements for a fair while.  The floor had partially collapsed into the cellar and the ceiling beams were all that remained of the first floor.  A new 'floating' concrete floor was fitted downstairs and, where needed, the ceiling beams have been re-worked using traditional techniques. The before and after pictures of the self-catering room can be seen above.

                         

Standing in the garden is an old 'colombage' (stone and timber framed building) that was really in a sorry state.  It has now been rebuilt using block work and some vertical oak posts instead of the old 'mud and straw' technique then rendered with sand and lime. Looks a little rustic but not bad for my first attempt!  It is divided into two rooms inside and offers secure, dry parking inside for up to four Motorcycles.

                   

Sadly our beautiful cat, Phoebe, is no longer with us but we know she will be missed by all who knew her.