Planning the layout of the house has been the hardest thing we’ve had to decide on.  Do we go for high style on the inside which ultimately affects the look of the outside or do we stick with what we have and compromise on size, light and what we see as quality of living space?

This was a hard exercise to go through so when we started to look ahead to see how would two adults a few kids and a dog live in the house things became easier, we became more practical about where we wanted bedrooms, bathrooms.  From here we went down a planning route which ultimately has clashed with what is deemed as “French Enough” and not in keeping with the area.

There seems to be a fine line between wanting to move design forward as we see it and using lots of natural light to a somewhat invisible tipping point where this is not “French Enough” and is rejected out of hand.

We’ve posted the below render before, and while taking advice from the CAUE we’ve been told the house looks too “Alpine” and specifically the changing of the pitch of the roof of the side house is not acceptable.  So while this wasn’t a major shock to have scorn poured on the initial plans what did strike me was a lack of understanding as to why we would want to do things and the outbuilding is a great example.

The outbuilding as is, is not useable for anything except storing maybe cattle feed.  The roof is too low, the walls are falling down and it has zero foundations.  Taking the chance to increase the height and change the pitch to match the house seemed logical.  Changing the pitch meant that we could actually use the new roof space as a storage/dressing area in the master bedroom, while creating a utility & entrance room downstairs, which ultimately meant we could move the kitchen door so you didn’t walk directly in from the muddy drive into the kitchen.

This just isn’t going to happen.. The pitch of the roof isn’t allowed to be changed however we may be able to heighten it.  The reason we were told for the reject was “This was un-French, and when we come to sell the French wouldn’t get it”.. REALLY? Wouldn’t get the extra space and practicality it offers, but OK deep breath and think about fighing the battles that actually need fighting.

Where things start to become sticky is when plans start to suggest the internal layout of the space.  Now the CAUE may well just be being over helpful but coming from a small 1 bedroom flat in London all my life I want to create open spaces for family and friends to gather.  For this reason I found it amazing that the CAUE architect arbitrarily chopped 12ft off the lounge, move the front door and created a hall way that had no natural light.  Why would you do this? The house is dark right now and the idea of windows is to open this up not to darken it down..  Is to have space & natural light “un-French”?

While we are talking about light, gone are the skylights in the new bathroom and with the internal changes gone are the dormers windows altogether and this is where I think that looking at plans without explanation can be cold, harsh and ultimately wrong.

The below image shows a quick bastardization of the work done by the contact at the CAUE so please forgive the roughness.  The top one is his “suggested” design and our compromise is the bottom and here is my explanation as to why this should be more than OK.

Ground floor Windows
The on to the right of the front door the window isn’t actually an addition it’s actually restoration of one that was there.  Sometime ago it seems to have been blocked up and we’ve since been using it as a HiFi cupboard (see image) but unless you talked to us about this you’d just assume we were adding a window.  That said it does need another window in there, the light in the kitchen is poor and this would really help.

Bathroom Windows
Seems simple enough, for light and ventilation.

Dormer Windows
Both our neighbours have these so it is indeed in keeping with the area.  The dormers would be in two new bedrooms allowing light and views.  The dormer on the far left is actually in the 1st bedroom where we could move our children too when they are old enough to not sleep in our room so they ahve their own room but are close enough to us for anything. Again without knowing this logic I don’t get why it would just be OK to move the bedrooms to opposite ends of the house.

Ground Floor Right Door
This needs to go! The suggestion of making this into a window to me is bizarre.  The window would be at ground level and maybe it’s the Londoner in me but this is just not secure.  Take into consideration this is where you park the car and you’ll get no use or light out of it.  Closing the door and adding a window that is away from the car port and at a decent level to allow in light seems a natural way to go.

Lean to / External stairs
So this is where I can see some difference of opinion and will be the easiest area to compromise on.  The external stairs were put back on the suggested plans with the explanation of  ”this would help with heavy furniture”.. Unfortunately nothing here as lost in translation and this seems to be pure opinion as to function.

The stairs are a later addition to the house.  They are made with poured concrete and is definitely not an original feature, they are also coming away from the house and the ivy, moss and water that pour down the gap are damaging that corner of the house, so it has to go.  Also for me again I see this as a security risk having a set of stairs leading directly to what we wanted to change into a glass widows to allow more light into the top floor.  Luckily for me no permission is needed to remove the stairs and these WILL be going.

Now the compromise
The suggested rebuild of the lean-to and pitch change of the roof is not in keeping and makes the look “alpine” in design is the opinion of the man at the CAUE, now he used to work in planning so should know what will and will not go through.  So OK I’m not overly precious about this, it would have been ideal to create more space but if this is a sticking point given the other spaces we are creating then I can accept this. Unfortunately it could be easier to remove it completely than to make use of it.  Currently it’s in a state and is falling down in-fact we’ve done a few posts on removing the roof and taking down the wall.  Again it’s under the size I need to have permission to remove so if it does become a hassle then it’s going, however we feel personally it is really a part of the house we do want to keep it.. The jury is out on this at present.

Conclusion
This is anything but concluded! Design is such a personal issue and it’s hard to strike a balance between allowing design to move forward and yet keep the integrity of the area so there isn’t something that stands out like a sore thumb.  So while for instance i’ll agree that the roof pitch change may be too much, I’ll not agree that putting in windows to allow more natural light in (thus reducing the need for lighting and reducing it’s energy bill) is a step to far, there has to be a balance struck between 21st century living, technologies and environmental concerns with that of keeping an old stone building just as old cold stone building.

I guess what I’m getting at is before we pruchased it, it was sitting there rotting like it was doing. While we don’t expect to be able to be outrageous with it, it has surely got to be better restored, lived in and come compromise has to be reached to the benefit of everyone.

So it’s now time to go back with some suggested revisions so they’ll be more news on this shortly we hope.  In the mean time below is the evolution of the plans, from where we were, to what we’d hoped for to where are are now today… WOW how plans change