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First impressions DO count, roses around the door gave a lovely feel to this
old stone building before renovation.
 What a difference a year makes !! We bought the property in September
2008, the plot is 1615 m² and with this came an agricultural barn
included in the price. The small stone building with mains water connected has now been converted into a summer kitchen
and a bathroom added for friends and family visiting and convenience for us when staying in our caravan until we
build a small house. The foundations hopefully will be going in this September 2010, watch this space for more updates.!!!!
We now have the benefit of mains electricity and mains drainage so we haven't had to built a 'fosse
septique'). These mains services only had to be brought across the road to the stone building. Without help from our friends Cathy
& Clive and Edith in the Mairie we would have struggled as we speak very little French - for this we owe
them a million thanks. Our friends Donna & Roy who tame & keep our grass & weeds under control & keep
an eye on the place when we can't be there - what would we do without you ? we even have our own neighbourhood watch
- the immediate neighbours are very protective of Le Petit Logis , they don't miss ANYTHING!!!!
We thought
long and hard about a suitable name for the property, it was Daves suggestion to call it 'Le Petit Logis' as
we could only afford to build a small house so the translation works well.
Planning permission (Declaration Préalable)for
the bathroom and renovation of the stone building to a summer kitchen proved to be a nightmare for our friends Cathy
& Clive who were acting on our behalf. The first application was rejected as there was not enough detail in the first
plans as the property had only ever been a garden (potager). Cathy visited the planning office at Parthenay and after she
explained what we wanted to do and asked them what they needed, Clive came into his own and re-did the plans - success!!!
it was passed in 2 weeks.
The plans for the proposed house were professionally drawn but they were
not architectural drawings as we were under 170 m² in size. As the commune now understand what we are
trying to do these plans were passed in 3 weeks instead of 2 months (Permis de Construire). We also did a 'declaration
prealable' to change the facade of the barn to make it more pleasing to the eye, we had 2 new windows and a door added, we completed
the application on our own with a little help from a couple of French friends for the translation and were very
pleased with ourselves as they were passed in 10 days, we are now getting to grips with the French system!!!.
Once the property was officially ours 9.9.2008 the first job was to cut down all the overgrowth, the laurel bush
which stopped the gate opening and the low branches of the cherry trees so that we could get the caravan positioned in
front of the barn - there was no driveway then!!! only 15 years of grass, weeds and unruly rose bushes and fruit trees
- not to mention the brambles. As you scroll through the photos this gives you a bit of the history of what
has been done so far. This will be an on-going project for at least another 2 years until the building is completed and
the garden landscaped - thats if a job like this can ever be finished!!! We love our little place in France, the neighbours
& Edith (the Maires secretary) in our small village couldn't have been more helpful or welcoming. There is a
brand new bar/restaurant and a lovely park and granite boulders that appear dotted around our area in the Deux Sevres
countryside with acres of apple orchards close by.
The village of Neuvy Bouin has 486
inhabitants at the last census count in January 2010 and 21 people who are classed as 'secondaire' home owners. There
are a few inexpensive properties for sale in the village as well as plots for new builds (lotissements) close to
the restaurant and the park and other farm type or larger houses in the countryside & even barns for renovation.
One of the reasons why we chose this area is that it is one of the cheaper areas to buy, we are ideally located to be in easy
reach of the theme parks, not too far from the Vendee beaches and the Loire valley and it is in easy reach of Poitiers,
Nantes and La Rochelle airports. The rolling hillsides and windy lanes & hedgerows are home from home for us
as the landscape is similar to Staffordshire. The village is always welcoming with colourful flowerbeds that are planted
& tended around the village by Bruno (the handyman) but like all French villages some of the old buildings look
like they could do with a coat of paint but this is obviously part of the French charm.
As the
site continues to be built there will be more add-on links to gites, places of interest, travel etc.
 
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