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Paul and Dawn’s Story

When we first decided to move to France, we intended to buy an old renovated farmhouse with land and outbuildings. Like many couples we were seduced by the French way of life and romanced about how we would make our new life in this wonderful country.

As we already had family in the Vendée, our move to the region was simple and straightforward. Our first real step on the road was a visit to the London (Olympia) French Property Show. We were overwhelmed with the amount of property for sale throughout the whole of France and quickly realised our move was going to be more complicated than first envisaged.

We visited a number of potential houses but none fully satisfied our expectations. We then met Geoff from Location France – Newbuild and he suggested we should consider building new if we wanted to ‘tick all the boxes’ on our wish list. Geoff arranged a meeting with the builder and we discussed concepts and lifestyle needs.

We viewed a number of potential building plots, eventually deciding upon an elevated plot just to the north of la Caillere. Having secured the building plot we began in earnest to develop plans for our ‘dream home’. We had stated from the beginning that we were looking for a modern home with large open-plan living areas. We also insisted that we had living and bedrooms facing onto a large terrace.

Plans were prepared for our consideration and eventually we agreed to build a spacious, modern house. The design offered a flexible living/working space and created interesting areas for entertaining and relaxation. All of this work was undertaken by building/design specialists in Poitiers and we were not charged for this work direct.

Planning and building regulation control was dealt with by the builder and we were presented with a final document/contract for signing. During our negotiations we were specific as to costs and overall specification.

We had viewed a number of houses under construction and were impressed with the attention to detail and the high quality of the work. We were particularly interested in insulation values and standard of fittings.

The house is built in traditional style and has what is called a ‘vide sanitaire’ – an open space under the floor vented to prevent damp. The floor is made up of concrete beams with high value insulation on top and then covered with a final screed.

The walls are made of terracotta brick (G7), a high value product achieving 5 times the ‘U’ value of concrete block. The house is some 450 m square in total, including terraces and porches so attention to detail was most important.

The kitchen units were chosen from the builder’s catalogue for the arriere cuisine, but we opted to install a modern kitchen (Gamadecor) through Porcelanosa in La Roche sur Yon. The builder worked with Porcenalosa ensuring electrics and drainage were installed in readiness for final fitting of the kitchen. We had decided we wanted an Italian shower in the master bathroom and were pointed towards Point P (builder’s merchant) to choose shower fittings etc.

All through the build we were consulted and invited to attend meetings on site with the various artisans building our new home. These were sometimes fractious but we always found solutions to the various problems encountered and moved onto the next stage.

The exterior of the house was a great concern to all and we were given good advice on wall finishings and colour. Similarly we were assisted with choice of roof tiles and with determining a mixture of traditional and roller shutters for the various doors and windows.

Building a new home is an exiting and daunting process. We found some of the timescales and the methods used strange but in the end all came together and we now live in an interesting new house that gives us great pleasure and is easy and efficient for the life we lead.

Underfloor heating is a wonderful medium and affords us maximum space with no ugly radiators in view. The system is all electric (an efficient form of energy in France) and is controlled by a central computer that affords various programming options to maximise lifestyle needs.

We enjoy travel and our new home enables us to leave at a moment’s notice in the certain knowledge that our house is secure and safe. All windows and doors are security locked and we decided to fit a metal front door as our final exit point.

The heating system can be programmed to switch off when we leave and starts up again in advance of our return.

We have no maintenance work. We have no cracks or breaks and we have the peace of mind knowing that all of the building works are backed by a 10 year insurance policy.

We have now been living in the house for over a year and have no reason for complaint. Some small remedial jobs have been needed and effectively executed by the artisans concerned. We have another year of maintenance cover for plumbing, electrical, tiling and carpentry but do not envisage problems.

Building new has suited us very well and we feel confident we have a beautiful home that is a significant investment for the future.