The plans

If you have ever tried to design your dream kitchen on the Ikea website, you'll know that not knowing the dimensions of the space is quite an impediment.


So this morning I went down to the Schaerbeek Maison Communale, armed with a digital camera (copies are €30 a pop) to dig out the plans for the house. So here they are, the original 1898 plans.


The facade:

Side cut:

The upper ground floor - at the back on the right is the old kitchen, with the steps going down to the garden. Note the entrance to the cistern at the top.






The lower ground, with a few steps going up to the garden at the back. These are the two rooms with the nice old tiles on the floors, we have an idea to turn them into a kitchen / diner, opening up the entrance to the garden. Notice at the top right the wine cellar (under the old kitchen) , which has a well ("puits") , as well as the cistern on the left next to the steps.


A close up on that cistern / well detail. Something to investigate further no doubt.

What lies beneath

(Q Tip, 2002)

We all know that when you buy an old house, you can expect a lot of surprises. Often expensive ones (no doubt there'll be more on those later). But sometimes you can also find some little treasures. It's only since buying the place that we have been able to have a good poke under the carpets / dust / grime, and have been pleased to find...

Lots of old floor tiles in the basement:

More fireplaces in good nick (strange green glaze effect - almost Victorian):

A lot of floorboard, under four layers of lino:

Brass window opening handles (or whatever the word is):

Wooden features untouched by paintbrush:

And more old doors with etched glass and brass handles:

Day One...

What better way to spend a beautiful spring day than fighting one's way through a thick of brambles metres high, pulling out assorted plastic garden tat...


The first great discovery was that we have a water cistern. Can be used to collect rain water?


Second, hearing nothing but the tweeting of birds (and some raï in the distance, for we are in Schaarbeek...), and third, reaching the end wall, and it realising that it was really quite sunny. Mmm. Now where should we put that BBQ?

Encore des photos...

As promised, here are some more pictures of the current state of the place.

La facade. Upper and lower ground (garden level), first floor with the bacony. The second floor- in the roof - is out of sight.





The entrance - with a little door leading to the lower ground:


And then the hall, with original mosaic floor:


On the raised ground foor, two large rooms, each with a big black (marble?) fireplace:

The wiring - also an original feature...

More to follow..

Bruxelles

When I went to the notaire's office on Friday to collect the papers, I saw this plaque on the side of their building. Belgium's greatest singer was born in the Schaarbeek area of Brussels, which is where our new house is.

In a Bad Way

(St Etienne, 1992)

There will be more photos still to come, but here is a little idea of the task ahead.

First, the kitchen. Look at those lovely floor tiles..



Next, the garden. We have yet to make it to the far end. Machete anyone?


Upstairs, the front room on the first floor, some of the original wooden window frames



And on the second floor, a bit of work to do on the roof:


That's all for now, more to follow...

Our House

(Madness, 1982)




And breathe... Today we got the phone call from the notaire telling us that nobody had put in a extra bid for the house we won in an auction on 24 March (we tried to keep it secret, though not terribly successfully - thanks all of you for keeping your fingers crossed). So it's ours! After an infinite two-week wait trying not to think about it, we can now unleash all our pent-up house renovation fantasies!

First, a few legal / administrative matters to attend to. Techincally speaking, the sale became definitive today, which means that we are the legal owners. (We don't get possession though until we pay the money, which we have 6 weeks to do). That means, that if the roof is blown off in a storm tomorrow, we are liable. So we need to sort out insurance and such like.

We also have to pay the taxes in the next 6 days (in Belgium these are steep - 12.5% of the house price) as well as the notary costs (about another 3.5%). Oh, and start talking to banks about mortgages.

Once we have dealt with that, we can get started on the fun stuff.

Want to see inside? Gory details to follow... I warn you, there's going to be plenty of work.