Ever since I lived in Provence, in the south of France in the 1970s I have had dreams of building a little house in the French style. Since I live in Virginia where the climate is variable with periods of sustained cold, snow and rain, building in the traditional Mediterranean style would not be appropriate. But over the years I have traveled all over France south and east of Paris. The region of the Dordogne and Quercy have rich vernacular traditions which appealed to me and influenced my design of my home.
The following images of my house were taken beginning in the fall of 2005 and later. I began work on the building in May of 2002 and took up residence on November 20, 2002. Even though the work was not complete, it was sufficiently advanced for me to begin to live here comfortably. Since then I have continued to work on the project as time has permitted.
The walls are poured in place concrete 8 inches thick with an inch of stucco on the inside, three inches of rigid insulation on the outside, a one inch air space, and then 7-8 inches of limestone veneer or stucco on block. This puts the insulation on the outside of the thermal mass and makes for a comfortable steady temperature within. The house is heated with a fireplace and a wood stove for cool weather, with electric radiators for back up heat. For cold weather the main heat source is an in- floor hydronic radiant system.
The limestone on the terrace side of the exterior and all of the limestone on the interior come from the quarries of St. Maximin in the Val d'Oise, north of Paris in Picardie, north and a little west of Chantilly. The limestone on the entrance facade and chimney side comes from Ohio. The sink in the out door kitchen counter is from the south of France, from a house near Brignoles in the Var, and is cut from a hard marble like stone called Pierre de Cassis, quarried near the Mediterranean east of Marseille, much used in the 19th century for kitchen sinks throughout the south of France. The 18th century sink in the bathroom is also from the south of France, from a long closed quarry in Brignoles, and is cut from a marble called La Rosé de Brignoles. I purchased both of these from a friend who deals in architectural antiques and had them air freighted to me here in Virginia during construction. The marble on the kitchen counter top and window sills, bathroom niche, dressing closet and steps in the living room is Breccia Pernice from Italy. I was fortunate, in 1998, to obtain 8 blocks of this beautiful marble 5 1/2 inches thick 40 inches square from the floor under the altar of a Roman Catholic church being demolished in the Washington DC area. I also purchased the altar, a block of white Carrara Marble from Italy 24 inches wide, 6 inches thick and 6 feet long. It is now the dining table on the terrace.
My old friend Sam Cleveland, AIA, of Charlottesville Virginia, drew the house for me based on some images in books, sketches and floor plans I showed him. I slightly modified his original plan for the interior layout to let the bath room be of continuous space with the bedroom. The terrace and outdoor kitchen space I simply made up as I went along.
The interior is about 85% complete. I want to wrap the backs of upstairs book shelves in copper and complete some other details and build a copper clad hood for the kitchen range. The outside is about 70% complete. I need to complete the stone work on the front and chimney elevations and the carpentry for the soffit and fascias all around.
Eventually, I have in mind a landscape program I'd like to implement.
May 2008
I took some photos during a rainy spell in May 2008, see below:
Click on any of these to see a larger version, some will expand to an even larger version if the zoom icon appears in the lower left.
I have recently (June 23, 2007) uploaded some photos taken this spring on the terrace that show my roses thriving (before the Japanese Beetles arrive...) and some views of the new lower terrace from inside and out as well as some views of the out door kitchen and dining area... I post these first, followed by some earlier images long since posted.
Spring 2007:
2006 and earlier:
