French Timber Framed Barn Conversion

 

A timber framed barn conversion has been bought to restore and sell, using traditional methods and will become the show-case for the areas of restoration and carving, creating a beautiful four bedroomed, three bathroomed home with cinema room, library, hot-tub room, large balcony and comfortable, spacious living areas.  The barn is in Normandy, near Mortain, and was chosen for a conversion and restoration project because of the beautiful countryside in that area.  There are a lot of potential barn conversions in that area, with many barns being left to become derelict.  This barn has a good, solid structure with no evidence of woodworm or structural collapse, meaning that the conversion should be relatively straightforward.  This style of timber frame is known as columbage in France and is generally infilled with a clay based material, usually from a local source.

This page is designed to be a 'blog' to show other potential French barn conversion enthusiasts the ups and downs of a building project in France.  Unlike most restorer, we are not going into this with a set budget, knowing full well that budgets are easily exceeded, time scales slip and this can quickly become a source of frustration and upset.  Each part of the project will be costed and completed, not to minimum costs, but to best value - aiming for a quality restoration without cutting corners.

Our plans are to convert this to a four bedroomed house, with carved oak posts and exposed beams.  A large oak porch will open into a vaulted ceiling area, with a large living space being heated by geothermic underfloor heating and secondary heating in the form of a wood-burning stove attached to classic traditional radiators with traditional radiator valves.  Air source heat pumps are popular in France and we will be looking into this option too as these are now becoming powerful enough to run radiators.  As these eco-friendly heating sytems are run by electricity, the intention is to generate a large proportion of our electricity via solar panels on the south facing roof.  With nearly two acres of grounds, there is plenty of room for landscaped gardens and self-sufficiency.

Watch this space for updates.

The barn as it is now, prior to conversion.

The layout lends itself to an impressive oak porch in the middle section, as this is currently a tin roof and lacks rafters.  Hence the middle section will be a grand entrance into a vaulted ceiling area.

The masonry section will become an office/study downstairs with a large en-suite bedroom with dressing room on the first floor.  An oak gallery landing from a hand made oak staircase will connect the bedrooms through the vaulted section.

 

 

The barn has the classic close studded wall design typical of the Normandy area.  This section will beome the oak framed garden room and summer dining area with large oak windows.  The orientation is North / South and this is on the north side so will not get too hot in the summer.

The columbage infill is currently clay and straw based and will probably be lime render finished to give a traditional oak frame garden room.

 

 

The western end of the barn restoration will contain the master bedroom with exposed oak beams, rafters and an impressive oak balcony from which the surrounding countryside can be admired with a glass of French wine.  As this end is west facing, the sunsets can be enjoyed against a backdrop of unspoilt countryside.

Architectural carvings and details will feature prominently in this barn conversion using Mike Nortons' carpentry skills acquired over many years in oak framing.

 

To date:  We have been to see the Mairie and informed him of our plans for this barn.  Having viewed Mike Norton's portfolio of oak framing, carving and architectural detail, he was very impressed and has offered us his full support with the planning process in France.

A structural survey or this barn has indicated already known issues. A barn is built for the purposes of housing animals and feed stuffs.  It is not built for the purposes of providing living accomodation and the frame will need to be improved in order to take the additional weight of plasterboard, insulation, dormer windows, bathrooms etc.  The eaves plate was already noted as showing signs of outward leaning, pushed out by the weight of the existing roof.  Additional posts and principal rafter sets will be installed in order to correct this weakness and to ensure the frame will be strong enough to endure for hundreds of years as a house.