The first major project at Alte Mae is the restoration of the old farmhouse.
Replacing the leaking roof, adding insulation to floor and roof, updating the plumbing and connecting it to the local services, re wiring the building to bring it up to code, and replacing any rotten wood in the house (floors, stairs, rafters, windows etc..). All of the above had to be completes with altering the exterior, ensuring the traditional look of the property was preserved and that as much of the materials and trades helping facilitate the restoration were local.
We started on the 3rd of May 2021 with removing all the rotten woods and old tiles from the house. The goal is to move into the farmhouse from our van 3rd of Feb 2022 ie: a 10 months renovation.
As we get into the build we saw the real talent and innovation that good local builder can have, improvising, changing things on the fly, and being very receptive to ideas. Given the farmhouse was abandoned in 1980 and has not been lived in for over 40 years its in surprisingly good nick. The external walls are half a meter thick and made of dirt and rock, keeping the building cool in the summer and warm in the winter. the building has barely any cracks and the plasterwork while patterned and mottled with age has stood the test of time.
Replacing the first floor in the house with a concrete floor instead of wood and building a concrete reenforces 'ring' to bind the walls and the roof level were the two biggest decisions we have made. The builder has very skilfully used wood to form the new concrete floor enabling a 'wood plank' like ceiling on the kitchen/dinning room. We will think about painting it white, which will hopefully give us the traditional look we had with the wooden floor but with all the benefits (sound proofing, weight bearing, structurally stabilising, insect proof, heat retaining etc...) of a modern floor.
The farmhouse needs new floors, rewiring and upgraded plumbing to be rehabitable. We have opened the layout inside the farmhouse to better suit our needs and and removed a couple of none structural internal wall.
Adding skylights and new doors to the rear of the building will have to wait until we can create a project with the council to get permission to change the exterior of the house. We will do this after we move in and via the architects who will help use secure planning for the development phase (2nd Phase) of the project, which include adding a pool, a commercial kitchen and guest reception, carpark, garage, laundry room and 10 double suites. We are retaining and restoring all of the houses original features, recycling tiles (roof & floor) and have acquired recycled tiles to replace damaged and unusable materials.
The finished style would be regarded a modern rustic.
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