Restoring a 17th Century French Bakery

My husband and I plan to restore this 17th century French bakery on our property in Normandy, France. Get a first peek at the bakery, and hear our plans for the building.

[@maggiegore3855]

What a wonderful look back 400 years & imagining this bakery providing delicious freshly baked bread! Living history. Thanks for sharing.

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Yep, I can't walk into the bakery without imagining someone in there making bread all those years ago :)

[@very5ick112]

bad idea to concrete the floor

[@MidnightVisions]

If your going to move in that bakery, those walls will need complete repointing with a proper line mortar, inside and outside. It looks like some areas have concrete mortar, that needs to go. The floor will need digging out, and reconcreted. In floor heat extra. Mud walls will need to be removed and replaced with lime mortar and stone walls. It's not an easy job.

[@barbarakloise6790]

Looking forward to seeing this restoration on this bakery for sure!!

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Thanks, Barbara. I'll be sure to post more videos as we work to restore it :)

[@janetwatson7966]

The bakery is a beautiful building... I love stone buildings..

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Yep, I'm a big fan of stone buildings, too :)

[@lilly3628]

Beautiful property.I look forward to your next post.Thank you.

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Thanks, Lilly :)

[@alisonschooley5459]

Love your ideas. Your plans always keep the original structure and purpose in mind, but making it useful. Paying it forward-awesome.

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Thanks, Alison :)

[@G.H.O.S.T.254]

a lot of work needed there. Rebuilding the Bread oven would be a great idea, turning it into a little area for entertainment with a small kitchen in the corner. Can entertain people and make things like pizza and pastries in the bread oven fresh to eat.

[@4e4twtwt]

Looks interesting, good luck✊🏻

[@9Antonian]

There’s a WWI barbed wire stake by the front door. The building will need a lot of stabilization, nice project!

[@mharrisona5526]

A fascinating wee gem! Thanks for sharing the video.

[@OurFrenchHouseRenovation]

just found you, and subscribed, interesting project, looking forward to the progress cheers

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Thanks :)

[@smadaf]

Nice bakery! I think you have a pleasant presentation style, and I like your accent. Now to take a look at some of your other videos.

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Thanks and welcome :)

[@teresamexico309]

5:41 What a beautiful roof-tiles!.

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Yes, we have the same terracotta roof tiles on one of our barns, too :)

[@jamiemorgan4146]

That would make a place that I could feel really comfortable in and create. I’d make it my recording studio, also make the oven a cozy fireplace (which isn’t good for a recording studio 🥺). I’d still have a fireplace though. Some places/buildings just have that vibe. Love to see how it turns out. Oh… and you do have a really nice and friendly speaking style and voice. Not like many others on here, that talk down to people or are hopelessly pretentious. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻 I’ve subscribed. 🙂

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Thanks, Jamie. I agree. The bakery definitely has a good vibe. I actually feel that way about the whole property. I'll have to share my art studio one of these days. It's tucked away on the third floor of the farmhouse.

[@magilan7]

Thank you for your videos, and the project of restoration . The roof of this building was probably covered with thatch. Traditional in that part of Normandy.

[@ErinHuffstetler]

I often wish I could see how the buildings on our property looked 400 years ago. It would be interesting to see the original roof and how the buildings have changed over time.

[@magilan7]

@@ErinHuffstetler In each French region, there is an ecomusée, interesting information can be found about housing, way of living, economy... of the past. Thanks again for sharing.

[@michaelgabriel7919]

I envy you... being able to do this kind of work. I was intrigued when you walked around to look at the arch. It wasn't the arch so much... as it was the recesses in the wall above the arch... that caught my attention. It looks like the connection point of a gabled... structure??? Like I said... I envy you.

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Hi Michael, We've done a bit of research on the arches, and have found similar examples in Normandy. There would have originally been two wooden gates that fit into the arches. The hardware is still in the stone wall. I think the openings above the arches might have been used for defense purposes. I still need to do more research. It'll be fun to learn more about the property over time.

[@reejoyce6305]

Can't wait to see the restoration... great video ❤

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Thanks :)

[@t.vanoosterhout233]

Quite the restauration project... how stable is that stones/mud wall? Are you going to rebuild it?

[@ErinHuffstetler]

The stone and mud walls are actually very sturdy (and very thick). There will be some places that we'll repoint, but overall the walls are stable.

[@artandcrafttherapy]

😘🍄

[@goblinking4995]

Why not just make a mold of the roof tiles to make more and wrap a steel beam in wood for the roof support so it look like it org wood they drill hole in the metal beam and wood and drive wood peg and steel bands to join them they last for ever and look medieval

[@teresamexico309]

The roof tiles got my attention too and it would be great to preserve them and make more of them. I would love to see how it is done (I have not idea about construction projects).

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Happily, there are a bunch of extra terracotta tiles in one of the barns, so we have what we need to restore the bakery roof :)

[@jadr3123]

Where is the restoration?

[@ErinHuffstetler]

Hi, this is a brand new project, as we just bought the property 7 months ago. I plan to document the process as we work to restore the bakery and rest of the property.

[@jadr3123]

Ok, good luck on that project. The title is a bit misleading.

[@user-zb5zg4rt5d]

крышу разобрать перед ремонтом