Its possibly one of the most complete renovations of a historic building in that region of France and the project has caught the imagination and approval of a great many people in Charente. The watermill is well on the way to being habitable and should see us get the first use out of it this year in Autumn 2011.





So the pictures are in two steps, firstly a very brief timeline of the renovation and then secondly a series of snapshots from the most recent progress.

The watermill will of course be featured far more comprehensively with a complete and structured timeline, there are approximately 1000 pictures of the renovation project in our archive at the moment and many more to take as the next few months pass.

Starting with an older picture of the waterfall this is one of three streams that run round the watermill grounds.

Here we have an early picture of the watermill as you arrive.

The rear elevation in 2006 before we started the watermill renovation.

View from the roof terrace in summer, the lake will go to the top right of the picture.

Upstairs in 2005 now it is completely different, the watermill has 3 floors.

The roof of the mill before it was removed, cleaned and renovated, now the master bedroom ceiling.

This is the kitchen and its outlook to where we now have the breakfast terrace.

The kitchen from the front of the watermill.

Kitchen from Roof Terrace

More Kitchen 2007

Side elevation showing the kitchen and the bread oven where the breakfast terrace will be.

This is the rebuilt kitchen before boarding – note the bifold doors to the breakfast terrace.

Outside standing on the top of the bread oven which is now fully restored as well.

Bi Folding Doors - Watermill Side Elevation

Rear of the watermill- the bread oven, breakfast terrace and all the new windows, plus the roof terrace.

Front elevation showing the new windows.

Newly restored roof and floor for the mill master bedrooms (x2).

Breakfast terrace with the doors open, ballustrading and flooring to be added to the terrace.

Roof and wall insulation to keep the mill warm.

Top floor bedroom with large windows.

Steel going in for the studwork.

Roof terrace before ballustrade.

Roof terrace looking to the back of the kitchen.

Watermill from the back.

More  mill from the back.

The mill kitchen from the front, completely rebuilt.

Plasterboard now on the kitchen walls, the vaulted ceiling makes for a huge room.

Looking down from the roof terrace door.



There are tons more pictures to process yet and when time permits this blog will show the complete step by step renovation for each aspect of the watermill including the grounds.

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Well we are about to fly out to the mill to check out the latest renovation phase, this time though we will not be driving down from Calais but flying into Poitiers and then hiring a small car from Budget at the airport.

There is an advantage or two in doing this, the first is that the flight is quick and we land refreshed rather than the 12 hour trip door to door that we are usually faced with. The second is cost, you see we can fly into Poitiers or La Rochelle for perhaps £20 and then hire the car from Budget for a hundred Euros, this is less than the cost of going through the Eurotunnel and the added cost of all the petrol for the journey both ways.

We have had a number of trips where we have hired a car from Budget at the airport and the added bonus here is that both Poitiers and La Rochelle are only just over an hour from the mill. In the picture below you will see the latest progress, the outside of the West wing has now been rendered, there is still some sand blasting to do so the over spray will be removed at that point.

The finish is a colour that was hand picked to match some of the large Granite corner stones, up close there is a definate synergy between the natural material and the coloured render.

West Wing rendered to match the Granite cornerstones

With the flights now booked and the hire car also booked we will be in France for the first week in October, it should still be sunny and so I hope to get some really good video footage. The picture above shows the bread oven fully renovated too, this is one of the best heritage bread ovens in the South West of France and we are currently getting it dated.

So what can I say other than I am excited, the car hire option that we have means it is easy to make a quick trip and get things done without too much fatigue and of course returning the car to Budget at the airport is also very convenient going home.

Bon Voyage!!!

Why build a lake at all?

Why buy a JCB?

Well there are a number of reasons one of which is enjoyment, secondly value, digging a lake will add value, then there is the aesthetic view, how lovely would a natural lake look in the shell behind the trees.

Of course a huge benefit to diversity and wildlife too, we have many wild animals including deer and boar and the chance to see more of these animals will be exciting.

To dig the lake we needed to purchase a JCB, the need to purchase is great because there will be many more projects coming up that will need the JCB, due to the high water table we now know there is no need to use a 360 heavy excavator so once the last part of the drive is done the excavator can go and be replaced with a permanent JCB 3CX machine.

In full flow the JCB starts to dig the lake

The machine above is the JCB model we wanted, it will help massively with landscaping and the front bucket will be invaluable to us.

See more of our plans and use of our JCB as we expand the JCB page in the coming weeks and months, I hope to show how valuable and well worth the money this digger will be over time.

Work is still too damn busy but am hoping to crash down in the turbo or maybe the GSX-R 750 depending on how my licence feels

• The Watermill – Looking Good

• From the back -

• The old roof –

• The new roof

• First floor stripped

• Lovely new first floor
  

• How big is this kitchen???

Still it is their loss, this is one of the biggest projects for renovation in the region and because there is an internal mill race it is also one of the rarer and more important renovations.

Still not able to get the Moulin blog in order but just wanted to share a couple of pictures so p[eople can see why I am excited at the French Water Mill renovation.

Here is a couple of before and after pics

Here we have the latest look and doesn’t she look incredible now!!!

Its Moulin de Bonnemort 2010

Here we have the front door to the mill as it was in 2003

Now in all its glory here we have the main entrance door in 2010

I have so many fantastic pictures of this renovation project, taking it from a shell to almost habitable, it is full of history and mystique, I have massive desire to learn more, old pictures and stories, things like the reputed gun stash from the German occupation of the town, the whereabouts of old tools and maybe the mill wheel.

As a story this will be brilliant as it maps out two men who took a chance on the whim of a single Internet picture and in a week visited then bought and in the middle of that secured the French bank account to make the circle complete. Planning, building permissions, Architects and builders, everything has been like clockwork and this is the perfect case history for anyone wanting to do the same.

An element of ‘devil may care’ attitude has been needed and also patience as after truning around a purchase so fast it was 7 years before we started renovating due to pressures of business, that said we did what we needed… secured our dream property first and dealt with the rest as we could.

The French Watermill is breathtaking and wonderful, it will be a stake in the ground for anyone daring to follow their dream, purchased for only £45k  (60,000 Euros at the time) with a healthy investment of money and love it will be the dream come true.

At the same time we need to keep the renovation going at full momentum, this means our trusted builder Mark Sabastini will be able to work right through the summer and into the Autumn. If we are able to keep this momentum the the Moulin will be completely renovated externally before the Winter and that will leave us the second fix inside.

The other major works of importance will be the construction of the lake, I want the Moulin to have a good quality and very beautiful lake that is natural and shaped around trees and land countours. It will need to support some high quality Carp and possibly a few Catfish but of course the Lake will need time to naturalise first.

That means I need it dug asap so the natural process of insect life and plant life can begin and the lake populated with a really high quality wildlife hierarchy.

I am awaiting the feedback at present from the architect who is discussing this with the authorities and I am quite excited about this aspect, who knows maybe we will find the stash of Napoleonic guns that are rumoured to be buried in the grounds……..

Our lovely French water mill is being renovated 8 years after buying it, I have decided now to create and maintain a record of this important renovation, include as many pictures as I can and see how it develops. Of course we are 8 months into this renovation but thankfully I have many many great pictures to use as reference.

The renovation is sympathetic to the building, everything Oak that is replaced is replaced by mature local Oak, same with the stonework and we are using French artisans too.

I am going to create a history of the whole process from the moment I decided to look for a French property right through the purchase and setting up of bank accounts, I will recount a number of stories from along the way many of which I hope will be humurous and in a few months time I can look back at a true catalog of events.

Of course the time has passed for the television interest and that is a shame because this is a truly remarkable story that talks of truly remarkable events and is centered around one helluva building with a remarkable history.

With its internal mill race and ten acres of land, its location to La Rochelle and the purchase price of £45k eight years ago I feel we got lucky in fact I think I used up my whole bag of luck on this one.

I will structure the blog over the next few days so I can include different sections and categories so that there is a real structure, I would love this to become a reference point for this type of activity too.

Well this is the first post specific to La Moulin De Bonnemort!!