Rabassie - the plan comes together

In a continuing series, we follow a major buy-to-let renovation project in the Corbières hills

In the two months since our first article, Rabassié is already showing the potential that owner Mike saw from the beginning. Clearing the site and some basic landscaping have revealed breathtaking views northwards towards the Aude valley.

Photo: Landscaping has already transformed Rabassié into a house with a view

Mike has engaged Toulouse-based Alain Gasc as Maître d'Oeuvre to manage the project.

It's Alain who selects the artisans and coordinates their activity, managing progress and costs against an agreed plan.

A frequent business traveller, Mike could have engaged yet another construction professional to represent him on site.

French has a word for everything. This time the word is Maître d'Ouvrage. Confusing, isn't it?

It's not easy to find people who can communicate at a distance and across languages. For Rabassié, Mike wanted someone bilingual who he already knew and trusted.

Photo: Project manager, Alain Gasc




He was happy to ask long time friend Sandie Apthorp to be his eyes and ears on the ground.

It's a wise decision as even in today's online world, few artisans are accustomed to working remotely with a foreign client.

Sandie's visits avoid misunderstandings due to language differences and distance.

Photo: Sandie Apthorp


Don’t you just love home extensions? Done well, increasing the floor area can improve a property’s amenities and enhance its value. A badly extended home can provide unlimited job opportunities for generations of future builders.

The nineteenth century had bodgers who could give modern cowboys a run for their money. Rabassié was extended but new and old structures had different foundations and the stonework wasn’t tied in. With the passing of the years, the two buildings began to float away from each other like drifting continents.

This has meant extra work for Mike's builders. They've had to underpin the buildings, injecting concrete rafts under the foundations.

Photo: When in a hole, stop digging...Olivier takes a break from drilling. Concrete will be poured in to lock the two buildings together

Nothing succeeds like an idea that will not go away. From the beginning Mike wanted a tennis court and cricket nets. This was a challenging objective for a property which nestles on a hillside. Sandie called in landscaping specialist Claude Bac. Moving mountains didn't phase him. Tennis courts, he'd seen before. A terrain for the game of cricket, well that was something new.

Photo: Before - Claude Bac meets the challenge of turning this...

After: ...into this, the would-be tennis court and cricket nets

However France is the home of pétanque where no village is complete without its boulodrome. Surley Rabassié should have its own? Another job for Claude Bac? Sure enough there's a new pétanque ground on a landscaped slope bordered by newly planted beds of lavender and rosemary.

Photo: Newly-planted beds of rosemary cover the slope leading to the pétanque court

Related links :

• http://www.purefrance.com/11078/holiday-rental-country-home.php
• http://www.domaine-de-nerige.com/