French Renovation:A Dubliner who found a derelict 17th century barn on a visit to France converted it to a luxury home. Croasdella Cruess Callaghanreports.
On the borders of the departments of the Lot-et-Garonne and Dordogne in south-west France, Avril Delahunt - a Dubliner who was involved in the New York and London art and music worlds for many years - has transformed what was a derelict farmhouse and barn.
The property on 10 acres at Auvergnats is now for sale for €1.5 million through agent Classic French Homes - and she is also selling an old mill nearby with full planning permission for redevelopment for €650,000.
It was in 1997 while visiting her friend, designer Jasper Conran, who lived in the area, that she came across the ruin which had been abandoned for 25 years.
When she saw the 17th century barn and adjoining house, she decided immediately that she was going to buy and restore it. But French inheritance laws being what they are, it took her two and a half years to finally secure the property and then the fun really started.
Forgoing the use of any architects, Avril used her own design flair and employed the best local craftsmen to initially renovate the barn, retaining wherever possible all the original wood and stone.
Because she was journeying back and forth from her base in London, the work took nearly three years to complete.
The result is a 207sq m (2,200sq ft) house with an enormous, double height salon with exposed beams where the focal point is a massive stone fireplace.
The ground floor also contains a large bathroom and kitchen, separated from the sitting area by a bar-style counter finished in satin-smooth polished cement. (It took Avril over a year to persuade the craftsman to make it but, when it was completed, it became his pride and joy.)
The dining table is a huge slab of fossilised stone from Texas resting on two trunks of redwood trees which comfortably seats 10 people.
A stone staircase leads to a 50sq m (540sq ft) mezzanine which is above the kitchen and bathroom area.
The entire barn is surrounded by a 90sq m (969sq ft) terrace and looks down an avenue of poplar trees and lavender in the midst of which is an 18th century fountain.
At the far end is a fish pond. The 240sq m (2,600sq ft)house adjoining the barn, which can be accessed independently or via a floating stone staircase, has two en suite bedrooms on the first floor.
The ground floor contains a bedroom, livingroom with original brick fireplace, pebbled stone-floored wet room with walk-in shower and kitchen/diningroom leading on to a 12sq m (130sq ft) terrace.
Within the grounds there is an 11 by five-metre polished cement swimming pool. There is also another 55sq m (600sq ft) barn which could be restored to create extra accommodation and a 13ft high 84sq m (900sq ft) tobacco drying barn which could become a two-storey guest cottage.
The whole property is on 3.9 hectares (nearly 10 acres) of planted flower gardens and parkland.
Delahunt, whose house has been featured in French and international magazines, appeared on a French television programme which follows the lives of foreigners living in France because of her ambitious mill development project (see panel).
Moulin to go
Five years ago Avril Delahunt found a derelict old moulin (mill) not far from her renovated house on an island in the River Dropt in Eymet, a 13th century bastide town in the Dordogne.
She eventually obtained full planning permission for the restoration of the mill into 10 one, two and three-bedroom apartments in a loft-type development with, at ground level, a spa, oyster bar, indoor and outdoor restaurants plus two boutiques. There is also permission for a private garden and a swimming pool.
Conran Interiors was to design the interior, and is still willing to do that.
Eymet is about halfway between her house, Auvergnats, and Bergerac airport and the site is about three minutes' walk from a medieval square in the centre of the town. A disc with plans, details of permission, etcetera is available from the agent.
Delahunt is now off on a round-the-world trip as she puts both properties on the market.
Classic French Homes
