Renovation of a building

About ten years ago, Mathieu, Companion of Duty, and Marie-Claire, his architect wife, were looking for a place in the center of Auxerre to house their offices, when they came across this building, steeped in history. ...

We don't touch history

-This house surely has a very old history, since it dates back to 1383. It is the oldest civil stone house in Auxerre, and we immediately fell in love with it. We went up the 14th staircase, it was something unimaginable. So we signed very quickly, after that it was not easy because it is a historical monument. Indeed, the facade being classified, the opinion of an architect of the buildings of France was essential. As Jean-Pierre Mayot explains. -The role of the architect of the buildings of France, when there is an intervention on the historic monument, is to take care to keep all its historical, authentic value and to contribute to its durability over time, so that the building goes through the ages as it has been transmitted to us. On this building, it was possible to do a lot of things. The main thing is already to restore the building as it was originally built. Afterwards, the creation of a window can be considered, provided that it does not affect the character and nature of the historic monument itself. If you buy a historic monument, the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs can subsidize part of the work on the covered enclosure.

We break everything

If Mathieu and Marie-Claire have not created new openings in the facade, the windows having been replaced identically, the interior has undergone major transformations, in particular to create their own apartment there a year ago. -When we got here it was a three-room apartment and here it was partitioned in all directions, there was a small bedroom here, a small kitchen here, so the height was not set at all in value, so on the plans we broke everything. So a large room that we use because we like to receive, that's why we put a large table and lots and lots of chairs. The decompartmentalization of this large room did not at all affect the structure of the building, since it was only secondary partitioning. We isolate -We took the opportunity to re-insulate the walls with linen hemp and the ceilings as well. The roof has been lined with 30 cm of cellulose wadding, again favoring natural materials. -We have changed the floors with a fairly economical product, it is a bamboo parquet. So the advantage is that it is very thin: 3 mm, it is economical, and it is decorative, it exists in several colors. So the decoration bias is a fairly trendy gray / taupe atmosphere with a deliberately black kitchen to come a little in opposition to the one that was white before and because the kitchen really fits into the living room. Life, this is where the whole family meets in the evening. And to brighten up this gray atmosphere, we fell in love with a fuchsia chest of drawers, and we decided to sprinkle a little of fuschia all over the decor.

We renovate

-The building is located in a protected area, so the joinery was naturally redone in wood, double glazing. The building was connected to town gas, so it was quite natural to create condensing boiler heating with low-temperature radiators and thermostatic valves. All of its installations have made it possible to gain comfort and save energy. The rest of the apartment is accessed by taking a 17th century staircase. -Before, it was a fairly noisy meeting room, so we had integrated acoustic panels into it, and now we had to re-partition it, but without damaging it because tomorrow it could become a meeting room again. So we came up with the idea of ​​installing furniture there that can be placed and that allows us to separate our parental part and the children's part. We put VOC-free paints on the walls because it is our duty to ensure that the implementation of the materials we use does not impact on people's lives. So originally, when we bought the very first premises to make our offices, this room was the kitchen that we transformed to become, initially, the waiting room. And then we had the chance to acquire the large room behind it, so we fitted out Mathieu's childhood dream: a secret door in the form of a bookcase. And so it was our little game when our owners came to discover their project, we made them wait in this small room there and then when we arrived, we opened the secret door, and we entered the large meeting room.

Today it has become Maxence's room, temporarily, he is very happy and very proud to have this secret door! Having gradually bought several parts of the building, today everything consists of their apartment, their offices, but also a parental suite and an imposing cellar. A harmonious whole that seduces Mathieu. -We can really say that this place is pleasant to live in now, for almost a year that we have been practicing it. In terms of insulation, we are really at the top, we hardly need to heat, the radiators are often closed. And then this comfort of life, the fact of being near the offices, of being all the time on site, in a house in the 14th arrondissement which has been through a lot of things, is something that for us is really very pleasant and makes the place even nicer.