Purchase Completion – September 2004

Having instructed the Notaries to proceed with both the purchase of the Grange and the Orchard, we eventually completed the purchase on 26th September 2004 and could then move ahead with drawing up the plans to secure the planning permission that would serve to pave the way to turning a farm building into a home.

A SAFER hurdle to overcome–July 2004

Fortunately, the law in France requires the owner of any farm building to secure a Change or Use Approval before offering for sale and this was done, but having agreed a sale it is also law that the land and property must be offered to SAFER to notify any local farmer, who have the right of first refusal and may offer the agreed price to secure the property.

http://www.terresdeurope.net/en/buying-with-safer-farm-france-property.html
This process was followed and no offers were received, but is did mean that completion did not occur during August and our holiday period, as we had hoped.

Luck secured us an Orchard – May 2004

The Grange itself is situated in around 1,200 sq metres of land on 3 sides. On the 4th side is an orchard and wonderfully tended vegetable plot, which adjourns the Grange and stretches to country lane that runs alongside. We had coverted that piece of land from our first viewing and had it in our mind to offer to buy it from the owner, once we were settled in.

During the visit, Nick was just explaining to me that French Building Regulation meant we could not put any windows overlooking a neighbours land and an archetypical old Frenchman came up and explained he owned the Orchard and thought we should buy it from him.

He had thought through all the reasons and benefits to us of buying the land and wanted a reasonable price for the 400 sq metres that would completely change and improve the options for the renovation and orientation of the property.

Check it Out Survey – May 2004

The disagreement on the price turned into a blessing in disguise, as we had arranged for Nick Adams, a local Architect to visit and check out the structure of the Grange and provide advice on the renovation work, which proved invaluable and reassuring. The delay enabled us to get advice and the reassurrance that the structure was sound and the projest was feasible, before proceeding.

http://www.adamsgautier.com/

We were being pressurised to move ahead with the signing of the Contract, which we had managed to delay as a result of the gazumping, but following the visit we move ahead with more confidence.

Gazumped! – April 2004

We had returned to the UK and a week later the Agent called to explain the owner had declined our asking price offer!!!

Apparently, his son had placed the Grange for sale and agreed the price, but it was his father who was the legal owner and he wanted €5,000 more that the asking price we had agreed and the sale would not go through based on the original paperwork. We rejected this on principle and held firm.

Easter Surprise – April 2004

Easter could not come quickly enough and we spent another three days searching for a suitable empty shell in the drizzle and rain. Despite the poor weather we knew we loved the area and the countryside of the Creuse and the Correze and if we loved it in the damp and wet, then we expected the affair to continue in the heat of the summer. We just needed to find a place we loved.

On our last search day, visiting the final property we found what has turned out to be the ideal property. An empty barn, which was in great structural condition, sitting in 1,500 sq metres of field on the edge of a village called Colondannes and around 4km from the nearest town Dun Le Palestel and 12 km for the large town of La Souterraine.

We resisted attempts to proceed there and then. We retreated to our hotel to reflect and consider what we had found and decided to return to the Grange to view the property and area on our own.

Fortunately, the sun was shining and we got plenty of time to look around and make our minds up before visiting the Agent, offering the asking price and having it accepted.

Once the paperwork was signed, we returned to our hotel and spent a further few days exploring the area and of course the village and our home to be. This was turnign into an even bigger French Adventure than we had even imagined!!

Realisation Strikes – March 2004

We spent a week searching for our ideal home all over the Limousin area, with the help of the local team from VEF and realised that our naïve idea to find a bargain, only in need of a little DiY & a bit of tender loving care was not achievable for the budget we had in mind.

The viewing of more than a dozen properties ranging from €30-100,000 resulted in us discovering what many people before us and after have discovered; that you would have to gut most places and start from base with the basics.

Most properties would need to be completely rewired, heating installed and all the sanitation replaced, relocated or even installed for the first time and a kitchen installed. As a result we concluded that if we were going to pay for a place and have to GUT it, then we might as well look for something that was already an empty shell.

So our research continued and we booked for a second visit over the Easter break in April 2004.

First Impressions

Having enjoyed our first and brief impression of Limoges we headed east to find the guest house we had booked in Chiessoux, near Lake Vassiveiere and having driven for 30minutes I realised we had not encountered another car either way. The peace and serenity had even imposed itself upon my our driving speed and I was at a slow 50 kmh.

We meandered through the country side and past fir tree forests and wood piles on a crisp, cold but bright morning with some snow on the ground. This seemed like bliss and we couldn’t believe what we were seeing when we came across Lake Vassiveiere. Wow!!!

First Foot Forward

With this in mind we booked an exploratory trip to Limousin on 14th February 2004, during the half term holiday.

We set out straight after Joshua had finished school and ventured down to Dover, across on the Eurotunnel and into France as a family on the adventure together.

The trip was easy and uneventful, EXCEPT the troubling encounter in the dark around the Paris Peripherique, which would prove problematic for a few more journeys.

We arrived at the Service Area on the A20 north of Limoges at 3.30am to grab a few hours sleep. It was very cold that night and some snow had settled on the ground, but we were not alone, as many other drivers had decided to do the same. We eventually ventured into Limoges and found the magnificent railway station there at 6:00am to freshen up and get a wonderful coffee before most people had risen.