the old staircase being returned to its original setting ...............
raising up
location
moving stairs

and then built under to make the broom cupboard .............

plastering
....... the lovely old stones and fireplace, joints raked out ready for repointing.............
jointing of old stonework
plastering
bathroom jointing
bedroom jointing
beamwork
....... and of course the beautiful fireplace, now all pointed up...........
jointed stonework

.......... and with a hearth...........

..........note the tiled floor also!.......

foyer cheminée
............nearing completion now with kitchen & bathroom well on their way ........
fitted kitchen
decorative wall tiling
Hurry up and finish guys..... Dave Schumower wants to get mowing!
lawn mowing
La cuisine
Kitchen
La chambre
Bedroom
Le salon
Lounge

Well folks .... for all of you who have been following the trials and tribulations of the conversion of Les Demoiselles ..... she's finally finished .

Bunty now has the fun of filling it with all the little bits and pieces to make it home

decorating services
tiling detail
............. and yet more plastering and plasterboard jointing ....... nearly ready for the decorators!................
rustic stonework
stone window
...... the work continues apace with the lovely new little window completing the outside stonework and plastering well underway upstairs .............
old staircase
construction

Work continues at a pace with the "doublage" - inner brick skin - going up. Airing cupboard now built and plastering started .......

 

doublage
revealing the old stones of the window and sink...............
Well the worst of the winter weather has now passed, including the Mother of all storms, and work has now started. Hardcoring of the floor and then its concrete slab. And guess what .... a lovly little hidden niche discovered in the fireplace wall. No gold coins inside though, alas.....
gite demoiselle
old fireplace
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History of the Conversion of

Les Demoiselles

Les Demoiselles is our latest exciting project, which will create our seventh gite and allow us to give the flexibility of Wednesday or Saturday change-overs.

We are naming it after two ladies who lived there during the late 19th century, the last of the line of the ‘important’ family that had lived in Fumel since having it built in the 15th and 16th centuries. They remained unmarried throughout their lives and hence were always referred to as "Les Demoiselles".
They are reputed to have dined off Limoges porcelain and to have drunk from Baccarat crystal glasses. Their ‘bonne femme’ – housemaid - lived in the little tower at the end of our house.

When we purchased Domaine de Fumel 20 years ago, the cottage was lived in by a mute farmhand: it had no sanitation apart from a shallow cast-iron sink and a hot tap fired by a bottled gas water heater. The large fireplace was used for heat and cooking: any other needs were fulfilled within the vines! He lived in the one room only, with his bed curtained off under the stairs.

Les Demoiselles is also french for dragonfly or damselfly.

gite la tour
The outside awaiting conversion!
This winter we will bring it back to life: the roof has already been done re-using the old tiles and preserving the beams where possible. The windows for the bedroom and bathroom are already installed.
Dave is looking forward to restoring the old staircase with tender care and to re-installing it in its original position. Downstairs windows will be replaced, the beams cleaned and linseeded, the old fireplace emptied from years of ash, the stonework cleaned and repointed. Once the floor is quarried with old tiles, hopefully using some of the original ones found under the screed, then we will install a modern kitchen with all the normal services you would want and expect. An old dining table and chairs and a couple of comfy sofas will complete the room. Upstairs we will have a large double bed etc. and the bathroom will have a large walk-in shower, hand washbasin and loo.
cottage la tour
The downstairs awaiting conversion!
old sink
plastering
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