live in a self-contained house

For 50 years, they have cultivated a rare luxury: autonomy. Patrick and Brigitte Baronnet settled in 1976 in Moisdon-la-Rivière (Loire-Atlantique). Since then, they feed almost exclusively on fruits and vegetables from their garden. “It’s our main food, and it turns out that I was co-manager of an organic cooperative for nine years”says Patrick Baronnet.

Patrick Baronnet was a sports teacher, while Brigitte Baronnet was a musician. The project of these ecology pioneers gradually took shape. Electricity is provided by solar panels. Right now, the batteries are full, so they can afford to leave their turbine idle. As for water, they haven’t paid their bills for forty-six years. “We replaced that with rainwater which falls on the roof, and which is stored in eight cubic meters of cistern”, explains Patrick Baronnet, who specifies that the couple managed to spend the summer despite the drought. For the kitchen, it is done using a solar oven, while the hot water tank is filled by a system installed on the roof.