How to have your cake and eat it well into the future – Julie Hart tells the story of her house-build in Gers
Some 15 years ago, we were looking for a beautiful peaceful location in semi-rural France. We wanted to create a bright, airy living space with a view that never loses its drama. We also wanted to golf, garden, walk, ski, and have access to healthcare facilities, theatre and travel hubs.
We were determined to live with the best eco-energy systems available. It was quite a wish list and little did we know what we had undertaken.
Eventually, we found the perfect spot on the edge of the village of Castelnau-d’Anglès in Gers, which felt private but not isolated, with amazing views to the mountains, the countryside, modern facilities, and international events – but there was a dilemma.
The spacious elegance we had seen in older houses was attractive, but we wanted light and energy-efficiency in our home. Many old properties here were built to protect the occupants from the winter cold and summer heat, so have tiny windows facing away from the views and prevailing winter winds. To achieve the best of both worlds, we decided to build our own home, although all our visitors think we have renovated an old property, and we still have a huge modern open fire for gloomy days.
ENERGY-EFFICIENCY
We were enthusiastic to begin with then, as we explored the options, we became slightly daunted. Our French was not what it is now, but fortunately we found an English-speaking, reassuringly experienced architect in Toulouse, who was open to energy-efficient solutions. He understood and sympathised with our aim of capturing French style in a modern construction.
He engaged a heating engineer who created a plan to serve all our needs – it was money well spent. Taking the most energy-efficient route was the more expensive option, but has repaid the installation costs in terms of energy-efficiency and lower energy bills than you might expect for a large house, easily withstanding the price rises we’ve all been facing in recent times.
Initially, we hadn’t fully appreciated the impact that the energy solution would have on the overall design. The house is very well insulated. This, combined with the efficiency of the heating systems, meant the architect could include a lot of glass in the design, allowing eas
