Tom and I have always (like many Brits) had a love of France.  We go there almost every year on holiday and during that time have explored many areas.  We could often be seen staring in immobilier windows dreaming of what could be.  Once we even got as far as calling a number on a vineyard that was for sale, but that really was a crazy dream!

Then at the end of 2012, we decided that we would try to make our dream a reality.  We went to a French property show to look for a wreck that we could do up, but then noticed that there was a lot of land available in France that came with outline planning. The thought of designing and building our own home was an exciting prospect!  We started to look plots online and then took the decision to spend a week viewing.  We knew this didn’t tie us to anything, but I had a feeling that once we started the process it would be hard to stop. We have now bought our land and I don’t think we can quite believe that we will soon be building a house in France!  As Tom is an Architect who specialises in residential design this is a fantastic opportunity for him.  He has always had an interest in sustainable architecture which is why we hope to build a passivhaus.  As you will see from the designs we are not building in a traditional ‘French’ style, but we have been given planning permission, and are ready to start.

This blog will be about the process we went through to purchase the land, our designs, planning and eventually the build process. In part it will be a memory for us, but it may also help any readers of our blog if they decide to do the same thing!  This will be our first self build project so we would really appreciate any comments you have and would be happy to answer any questions.  Keep checking back for regular updates, if we go quiet, we haven’t forgotten anything, we will either be working our way through the French planning system or dealing with our builders!

Update

The house is now complete and ready for visitors.  If you would like to know more or are keen to book, please visit our website La Maison Bois Charente.  We look forward to welcoming you to La Maison Bois.

à bientôt