Today, 20th October 2022, we took the plunge and signed the compromis for the St Sever house. The vendors have already signed, so it's a done deal unless we change our minds in the next 10 days - the official cooling off period. The Acte de Vente, ie the day we take possession, is scheduled for the 10th January - these things always seem to take the notaires 3 months.
Photos are courtesy of the estate agents - my old company now in partnership with Pozzo - so blame them for the quality! Having had a bunch of tradespeople round, the only sound part of the house is the roof! The walls need pointing, all the windows and doors need replacing, heating and electrics need renewing, interior insulation to all exterior walls - oh and did we mention the dry rot? And then there's the jungle of a garden.
Poor old house has been uninhabited for 30 odd years and had precious little spent on it in all that time. Little does it know!
First things first - where is it? Click left for a view of the town and there's a closer view of the house to the right. In short - St Sever, the nearest 'town' to us with supermarket, doctor, vet, chemist Post Office, bank, butcher's, bakers (no candlestick makers) - all the things one needs really and juust a short walk away. Which is what made the house such an attractive proposition as we grow older and feebler. Click this link for a closer look on Google Maps.
As you can see (from the picture on the right), the house is right in the centre of town, set back behind the houses on the main road in a peaceful spot with hardly any passing traffic
It's clear - from the remains of the fireplace, there was once a house where the front garden now is - which should make a good spot for a barbeque. Then there's more garden to the east and north with a couple of outbuildings. There are also some enormous laurel bushes - trees really - and a massive holly. They will be on the eviction shortlist - we've asked if we can do some gardening before exchange day.
Anyway, here are the outside pictures from the agency: -
The outside is considerably better than the inside. Uninhabited and pretty much left to rot for 30 years about the only sound part of the house is the roof. The walls need repointing to stop cross wall water penetration, all the doors and windows need to go, new boiler, electrics, insulation - and the dry rot. Caused by a gutter leak that 50€ would have repaired, leaving a bill for eradication and replacement of rotten timer of around 15K€. Nice one.
Some interior views.
There are a couple of floor plans here (not to scale) that appeared from somewhere. They do give the layout. There has been an extension built at the back to create a waiting room, surgery and office for the previous owner - the local doctor. For the non french speakers RdC stands for rez de chaussée - ground floor and étage is the first floor.
Not shown at all is the cellar which mirrors the first floor foorprint. Full head height throughout and access at ground level at the rear of the house. Historically the oil boiler, fuel tank and hot water cylinder were sited here. Not sure what we will end up with - maybe somewhere to store the electric bikes! There won't be an oil boiler in the future, so that and the fuel tank can go. You know how stuff increases to fill the space available? I think we are both dead set on that not happening.