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<\/a><\/p>\nI\u2019m 77-years-old, and I\u2019ve recently endured living in a caravan that, like me, has seen better days, at the bottom of what was recently a farmer\u2019s field in the commune of Fleurac, in the Dordogne, southwest France. I lived in it willingly for 27 months so I could design and build the house of my dreams.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve no previous building experience, and some people \u2013 including members of my family \u2013 said I must be bonkers to take on such a project at my time of life. Maybe I am, but to me it made perfect sense, and I\u2019ll explain why.<\/p>\n
My family used to visit France on holiday while the children were growing up. When my divorce became final in January 2012, I was beginning to think about selling my business and retiring. A friend living in France suggested that I come over for an exploratory visit with a view to making the move myself, and after that events transpired as though it was meant to be.<\/p>\n
I was only over for a few days, and saw a few houses, but as soon as I saw one in particular I knew it was \u201cmy\u201d house. It was a converted barn in the Dordogne that had been empty for four years, and was rather neglected. I put in an offer that was accepted.<\/p>\n
Over the next nine years I launched myself with great enthusiasm into making improvements. But already problems were beginning to loom, the most serious being to do with the roof which was beginning to show signs of its age. The whole business of running the wood-burner \u2013 which I had once found joyful \u2013 also began to pall.<\/p>\n
My first thought was to modernise the house in some way, but conversations I\u2019d had with a local English builder suggested this would be expensive. So, I had a go at creating a design myself after downloading a free architects\u2019 software package.<\/p>\n
After much bureaucracy and wrangling with local planning requirements I managed to obtain a building permit, a \u201cPermis de construire\u201d. Despite my delight, I ultimately decided that it would still not overcome many of the problems with the property, and I put up a \u201cFor Sale\u201d sign outside my house instead.<\/p>\n
I was contacted in a couple of days by a lady who said that my house was just what her daughter and her partner were looking for. A deal was done for the asking price and, as all fees are paid for by the purchaser in France, I knew exactly how much I\u2019d have available to do something else with.<\/p>\n After my experiences of living in a converted barn, I knew that \u201csomething else\u201d had to be completely new, and designed to exactly meet my own personal requirements. I knew I wanted to design it myself \u2013 after all, I already had the software and the experience of designing an extension, so what could possibly go wrong?<\/p>\n I sold almost all of my house\u2019s contents (living room furniture, cooker, freezer, fridge, dishwasher, washing machine), together with my wood saw and splitter to the new owners. Friends told me that the price I agreed was too cheap, but I think it was worth it so I could start afresh with a clean slate wherever I was going to end up in the new place.<\/p>\n One important consideration remained. Where would I live in the meantime? Caravans in France have to have a registration of their own, a bit like a car. Often these get lost and they\u2019re almost impossible to replace, which results in many older vehicles not having one at all. In such cases they are supposed to be given up for destruction, but the French are an enterprising people and instead they put them up for sale \u2013 but solely \u201cfor use on private land or a private leisure area\u201d.<\/p>\n Many such caravans are bought to be used during the construction or renovation of a house, which seemed a great idea to me. Finding and buying one proved challenging. Many coming up for sale were hundreds of kilometres away, and the best were snapped up before I could even get to see them.<\/p>\n The best I could get was a run-down, six-metre Fendt Diamant with two axles. As soon as I saw it I knew it wasn\u2019t what I\u2019d hoped for from the pictures, but having travelled to the south-east of Paris and with time running out, I made an offer and bought it.<\/p>\n Then, it was time to move it onto the beautiful piece of land that I was buying, and not long afterwards I moved in. The new chapter in my life was underway.<\/p>\n Living in the caravan, having sold my property and possessions, I still had no design of a house to build, let alone a building permit. Patrimoine is jealously guarded by an organisation called Architectes des B\u00e2timents de France (ABF). In almost all areas of France there are local colour palettes that must be used for the stone used in construction, wall coatings, windows and doors, ironwork and roofing, even extending to the type of material that can be used.<\/p>\n The land I bought is on an uneven slope, in a shape that\u2019s wider at the bottom. I wanted to position my house on the upper area, but it wasn\u2019t wide enough and couldn\u2019t fit vehicle access. I came up with a \u2018V\u2019 design that did what I wanted, which I put out to several builders. Only one came back to me \u2013 mainly due, I think, to their foreseeing future ABF problems with the design.<\/p>\n The builder said that neither his company nor any other would be interested in talking until I had a permit in my hands, and he doubted that my design would be approved by the ABF.<\/p>\n I contacted ABF myself, and sent off details of my project with a basic plan of the house design. After a short delay I received a reply that I thought was both rude and disrespectful.<\/p>\n The long and the short of it was that ABF, or someone in it, thought my design was an eyesore and they would strongly disapprove of its being built. This was a mystery to me, as my design had all the characteristics of a modern, single-storey family home with a low-tiled roof, just like many others in the area.<\/p>\n They said I should build a traditional P\u00e9rigord-style house with stone walls, narrow windows and a traditional high roof, ie. everything that I was trying to leave behind.<\/p>\n I had two options \u2013 either come up with another design that would be accepted, or press on with the existing one. In view of the amount of work I\u2019d already put into the project, I decided on the latter.<\/p>\n To start off with, I dropped in to see the local mayor (Maire) who, luckily, I already knew quite well. This is always an advantage in France, especially as our Maire is well-known and respected in the local community and beyond.<\/p>\n After listening to my account, he picked up a large file and dropped it on his desk in front of me. He said the folder contained every constraint and condition he was obliged to conform to when considering an application for a building permit, and that it contained absolutely nothing that would prevent the approval and construction of my house.<\/p>\n He said I should submit my \u201cDemande de Permis de Construire\u201d, which he would support. Armed with that knowledge, I took on the ABF.<\/p>\n That weekend I flew a drone over the whole area around my land, taking aerial photographs of all the houses. I then drove to all of them and took photographs from ground level. I created a multi-page document, and added a concluding page in which I pointed out that only three of the 16 houses in the area could be described as \u201ctraditional\u201d in style. The rest were all in the style I was proposing.<\/p>\n I sent copies of the document to all of the parties involved in the building permit decision-making process. The Maire had emphasised the importance of conforming to the local colour palette, and had provided me with a printed sheet showing the colours available for each part of the house.<\/p>\n The chart contained four columns showing the approved colours, ranging from \u201cClair\u201d (light) to \u201cFonc\u00e9\u201d (dark). However, all of the colours apparently available were at the dark end of the range, and not what I\u2019d seen on other houses in the area.<\/p>\n This presented me with another dilemma, and I decided to speak to an ex-ABF man in the planning department in the next village.<\/p>\n Here’s how the in-person conversation went<\/p>\n Roger Mole Ex-ABF man Roger Mole Ex-ABF man Roger Mole Ex-ABF man Roger Mole Ex-ABF man Roger Mole Ex-ABF man Roger Mole Ex-ABF man By this time my brain was reeling, as it seemed that everything that I wanted and had been told was forbidden I could actually have.<\/p>\n As I seemed to be on a winning streak, I decided to go for broke and ask about roof tile colours.<\/p>\n Ex-ABF man then whipped out another materials sheet and, after sternly confirming that I did want flat tiles, didn\u2019t I, wrote down the \u201capproved\u201d maker\u2019s name and product code. I then had all of the information that I needed, and I was delighted, if somewhat bemused by the whole experience.<\/p>\n I told my French neighbour about it when I got back and she was as confused as I was.<\/p>\n My permit request was approved by all parties, except ABF. It sent a churlish letter in which it stated that no house at all should be built on the land I was buying, and it should be left as agricultural.<\/p>\n This rather shot themselves in the foot because the land had long been classified as \u201cfor construction\u201d in the local structure plan.<\/p>\n So there I was in mid-May 2021, basking in the glow of having fought off the determined efforts of ABF and grappling my way through the French planning system.<\/p>\n Surely, the worst was now over, and all I now had to do was sign a contract with a builder and sit back to await the completion of my new house.<\/p>\n I was extremely impressed with the plans set out by the builder, and even more so by the construction cost. I had a budget in mind, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had hit it right on the nose.<\/p>\n We had a technical meeting, where the model that I\u2019d created on my computer was replicated in professional detail on their system. It looked amazing, and we went through it with me selecting where I wanted lights, switches and plug points, where plumbing fixtures and fittings would be, and which way doors and windows would open.<\/p>\n What had only been a dream was now beginning to take shape.<\/p>\n It was then a matter of my waiting for construction to commence. I had other things on my mind, however, because having taken up residence in my caravan, I was struggling to get some basic utilities set up. This meant dealing with EDF the electricity company, Enedis which operates and administers the electrical distribution network, and V\u00e9olia, the water company for my region \u2013 and they were all a nightmare.<\/p>\n As I waited months to get connected, I resorted to running a very long cable to my neighbour\u2019s house for a supply to my caravan \u2013 goodness knows how I\u2019d have coped otherwise.<\/p>\n As for the building work, they\u2019d told me when I\u2019d signed the contract back in July 2021 that they\u2019d be able to make a start in October. In fact, they didn\u2019t make a start until March 9 the following year \u2013 and the delays didn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n I found they\u2019d suddenly stop work for what appears to be no apparent reason and disappear, often for weeks at a time. There\u2019s nothing much that you can do about it. And you know also that when August comes around they\u2019ll be gone for the whole month, because that\u2019s when the whole of France traditionally shuts down and goes on its annual summer holiday.<\/p>\n There were also a couple of hiccups I refused to compromise over. The first concerned a bricklayer who worked without using a proper plumb line. Luckily because I was on site I saw the results of this in the form of vertical edges that weren\u2019t vertical, and made the builder stop work until it had been taken down and rebuilt. The builder did this to my satisfaction without arguing.<\/p>\n A second incident was more significant, and involved the roofing subcontractor placing the whole of the roof structure too far forward. Luckily, they tossed their work plan on the ground after they\u2019d finished, and I therefore had the evidence, so was able to go back to the builder again and stop all work on the house until the error was rectified.<\/p>\n The builder tried to talk me out of it, as a section of the roof had to be removed and was going to be quite expensive. I stood my ground, however, and finally the builder did a superb job that solved the problem and actually exceeded my expectations. Unfortunately, more than a month of construction time was lost while the issue was being resolved.<\/p>\n The 12-month completion term in the contract had been exceeded, and I was entitled to impose a daily financial penalty of around \u20ac50 for each day in excess of the contractual completion period.<\/p>\n I decided not to do so, given how the builder had cooperated in dealing with the issues.<\/p>\n And so we came to this summer, 2023, by which time I\u2019d been living in my battered old caravan for nearly 27 months \u2013 far longer than I\u2019d expected. The builder had originally said the house construction would take about 10 months.<\/p>\n Temperatures had begun to exceed 40C, and it was becoming intolerable. My fridge was too warm to safely store food, and my small freezer was running for so long that it felt like it might burst into flame at any moment.<\/p>\n Although my house still wasn\u2019t finished, I\u2019d done enough of the tasks I was responsible for to \u201ctemporarily\u201d move in.<\/p>\n In France, unless separate contractual arrangements are made, it\u2019s left to the purchaser of a new house to deal with all painting and decoration, the laying of floors, kitchen installation, and any parts of the bathroom not included in the contract. I\u2019d also installed the 43 LED ceiling spots that the electrician had drilled holes and left cables for.<\/p>\n I\u2019m still living in my house, sleeping on an inflatable bed in my living room. There\u2019s no hot water, but being in my house is a joyful experience \u2013 despite my only being able to take cold showers right now.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll soon have everything I wanted \u2013 a clean, fresh, modern house that will be easy to live in, keep clean and maintain. Heat pumps work here, and all new houses have them \u2013 and with hot water and underfloor heating I won\u2019t have any of the problems I used to have with my old wood-burning stove.<\/p>\n Despite its challenges, living in my old caravan was the right decision. Knowing the cost of accommodation in these parts, by my estimation it has saved me over \u20ac17,000 in rent and taxes. Mind you, I wouldn\u2019t want to do it all over again.<\/p>\n There\u2019s one more thing that I didn\u2019t originally realise would be a source of such delight.<\/p>\n My kitchen window and one set of double doors in my living room face towards the east, with a view of a charming small valley below. During the past few weeks it\u2019s been magical throwing them open as the sun has risen, and the day has begun to warm up. I\u2019d have paid good money for that alone, but lucky for me it has come for free with the house.<\/p>\n Has it been worth all the effort and ups and downs? I\u2019ll say it has, and my only wish is that I\u2019d done it sooner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2018I\u2019m 77, divorced and building my French dream house \u2013 my family think I\u2019m bonkers\u2019 Erratic builders, dilapidated caravans and Kafkaesque bureaucracy could not stop Roger Mole achieving his dream By Roger Mole 10 November 2023 \u2022 5:00am I\u2019m 77-years-old, and I\u2019ve recently endured living in a caravan that, like me, has seen better days, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22312","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22312"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22330,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22312\/revisions\/22330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\nFleurac, in the Dordogne, south-west France
\nMr Mole quickly fell in love with the southwestern commune of Fleurac, in the Dordogne CREDIT: Roger Mole<\/h6>\nSelling up to live in a caravan<\/h3>\n
\nFriends suggested that I should look for somewhere to rent, a small cottage or gite perhaps, but I thought that this was far too open-ended. Depending on how long the project took it could cost thousands of euros, so I decided to look at an alternative.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\u2018The best I could get was a run-down, six-metre Fendt Diamant \u2013 as soon as I saw it I knew it wasn\u2019t what I\u2019d hoped for\u2019 CREDIT: Roger Mole<\/h6>\n
Taking on French bureaucracy<\/h3>\n
\nI\u2019d also been warned that the area was particularly sensitive, due to the \u201cPatrimoine\u201d (French cultural heritage), and not any old design would be accepted and approved. Undeterred, I soldiered on.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nMr Mole came up with a \u2018V\u2019 design for the house \u2013 but fearing issues with ABF, only one builder responded to the proposals CREDIT: Roger Mole<\/h6>\n
\nI have this colour chart and have been told that I am limited to the colours in column C<\/p>\n
\nYes<\/p>\n
\nSo I have to choose from just these colours for my \u201cenduit\u201d (external wall rendering) and my \u201cmenuiseries\u201d (windows and doors)?<\/p>\n
\nYes<\/p>\n
\nWould this also include the \u201cbardage\u201d (the boards on which the gutter is mounted)?<\/p>\n
\nYes<\/p>\n
\nOK, I want to have dark red-brown shutters, but what if I want to have cream painted \u201cbardage\u201d \u2013 could I?<\/p>\n
\nYes<\/p>\n
\nWhat if I wanted my PVC double-glazed doors and windows to also be cream \u2013 could they be?<\/p>\n
\nYes<\/p>\n
\nI see that on the colour chart there is no pinkish colour available \u2013 is there one?<\/p>\n
\nYes<\/p>\nThe small matter of building a house<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nConstruction problems and erratic builders delayed the project by several months CREDIT: Roger Mole<\/h6>\n
Moving in, ready or not<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n‘Has it been worth all the effort and ups and downs? I\u2019ll say it has \u2013 my only wish is that I\u2019d done it sooner\u2019 CREDIT: Roger Mole<\/h6>\n