The Old School House, Pujols, Nr St Emilion, Aquitaine - Easter 2012 Update

A two weeks family “holiday” in Pujols has recently drawn to a close, and this note gives a review of the activities in the house and the projects underway.

The weather over the fortnight wasn’t as clear, warm and sunny as we had been dreaming off.  A number of overcast days, and some rainy ones.  Yet also some sunny, bright spots and the chance of eating out on the garden patio one evening.  But the BBQ didn’t come out once . . . .

POOL

There have been months of discussion on "where shall we put it?", which came to a happy conclusion on the day after arrival, when we met the project team on site, and the red spray paint came out.  Discussion, measuring tape sizings, lines drawn on gravel, more discussion and a couple of hours later everyone was agreed on where the pool would be located. 

Ancienne Ecole Courtyard . . . . with pool location marked in red

The major excitement was on day 6 of the holiday when two diggers arrived with a team of workmen – and all of a sudden, work began on the long-awaited swimming pool.  

By the end of the day, the large whole was dug and all the earth removed to a couple of spots in the village where, evidently, neighbours were pleased to receive it.  

Here are some pictures taken during that day - proof positive that the pool is underway!

Digger Arrives   

Digger rolls into Courtyard

And the digging starts

The pool hole gets bigger as the morning progresses

   

Tea Time and the hole is there!

A nervous gap over Easter where there was no sight of anyone or anything and then on the Thursday, another spurt of activity with the arrival of a large cement mixer, various lengths of steel and threesome of skilled “mason”.  By mid-afternoon, the concrete foundation was laid and a large plastic cover secured over the area.

Concrete mixer draws up beside the Abbey

Getting ready to pour the concrete foundation

The concrete pours in

Concrete is left to set, with a cover to keep the rain off

One week later _ walls appear

And then, the walls are there, too!

The main construction work is due to be complete in two weeks, and then Christopher Cuisset, the pool installation wizard and the main contractor for the job, works his magic.  Handover is set for mid-May.


In discussions with the construction team, the issue of pool security came up.  We had previously intended to put a security fence around the pool.  But this is quite an intrusive structure, and doesn’t seem to fit with the courtyard location.  We realised that the courtyard is already “secure” for children.  There are four points of access, but all can be closed and locked; so why not use the natural security of the area, for child security, too?  This seems to us a better proposal, and the one we are opting for.   

The pool will also have an electronic alarm fitted, so that when it’s switched on (which it should be at all times, except when swimmers are in the water), any activity in the pool causes a loud bell to ring.

GARDEN

There are three areas of “garden” – the courtyard at the front (lovely for catching the morning sun), the courtyard at the side of the house, and the larger area at the back of the house, that drops away down in the hill into our wilder, coppice woodland.  Neither the previous owners of the property or ourselves are great gardeners, and the gardens will never perhaps be the finest point of The Old School House. 

We do however love the various rose bushes that are a feature of the courtyards, and my attempts at winter pruning in 2011 will show themselves in 2012.  Hopefully, the roses will survive my incompetence with the secateurs . . . .

My preferred tool to a hoe is a chainsaw.  There have been days of removing branches and trees to open up the views across the valley towards St Emillion.  You will see the result, and hopefully approve.  More could be done?  But the trees also provide shelter from the wind, and a framing to the wonderful views.

The front garden, before Francis attacks . . . 

One major achievement of Easter 2012 was researching and finding someone to keep the garden in control.  Thankfully Francis Francois (the husband to our beloved home-help, Michele) has agreed to the role and he will spend some hours every two weeks at the task.  Things will get into order over time, so our early guests of 2012 shouldn’t expect too much from the estate! 

EASTER WORK

Work begins on the front entrance

Over the Easter period we refreshed the front entrance area to the home.  The front entrance is the old main entrance to the School, with the Girls School to the left and the Boys to the right.  The respective heads of School lived on each side, so the one central lobby divides into two.  We smartened this lobby up a bit, painting the outer doors, the inner doors, the walls etc.

Before

and After!

Morag seems proud of her paintwork

Welcome to The Old School House

The girls’ part of the building, to the left of our house, is pretty much as it was when the school closed years ago.  It’s been used as a workshop by a firm until it closed down a few years ago.  Meanwhile, The Old School House (boys’ side) was turned into a home.

The Outer Lobby - after our work

And the children did some work, too (eventually!).  The lobby to the Front Double got painted, as did a feature wall in the Garden Bedroom.  

The Garden Bedroom gets a "feature wall"
(visitors will excuse the paint on the stair treads?!)

Inevitably, there was the visit to a range of antique stores and antique markets to search out that needed piece of furniture . . . .  Plus a series of visits to DIY stores and other shops for this and that.  There’s an endless stream of bits and pieces that the house seems to need – I tell Morag that there surely can’t be room for that?

Oh, and I spent some exasperating hours with drill, wall fixings and pictures as various bits of “art” took fixture on bare walls.

PROJECTS

There are a number of key things that we want to do, in addition to the pool.  Longer term is the plan to convert the two “old class rooms”, which are currently useful stores, into accommodation.  The home would benefit from more “en suite” bedrooms and perhaps more sleeping space.  Along with moving the kitchen, making a separate dining area etc etc etc. 

But on the nearer horizon is a project to improve the lower, garden terrace.  It’s split level at the moment, and the patio stones aren’t that great.  We would like to replace the stones with local paving, and have a surface at one level.

As you will see when you visit, the guttering to the courtyard outbuilding needs replacing, and over Easter we met with a local artisan who is coming up with a “devis” (quote) for doing this.  

Having obtained a series of “devis” over the last year for another area that’s a bit unsightly, we have just ordered new wooden windows for the old classrooms.  The original windows are still there, and are long past their “sell-by” date.  The work will happen in July.

A completed project is the replacement of all the zinc guttering and flashings around the roof of the property.  This isn’t very visible work – although fairly major stuff, and the bank account certainly noticed it had happened.

So, our Easter holiday of 2012 was a memorable, productive affair.  The children thought we worked too hard and played too little.  There was certainly a lot to do – and their grumbles were muted by some treats.  A lovely lunch in the village at Chez Sylvie and another superb meal with everyone at La Table Rouge.  Plus we had an interesting visit to the nearby “Chateau de Mallet” and bought enough wine to give the Espace something to grumble about on the road home (a lovely white, good rose but not sure about the red – tell us what you think).

Katie makes cakes for visitors

After a year of discussion, it was wonderful to see the pool team arrive!
Thank you Christophe and Piscine des Bastides  www.piscines-des-bastides.fr