Building a home takes a lot of planning. We show the owner’s journey, to give an idea of the scale of the challenge.
When Isabelle Quinn had a grandson, she felt the need to have a place in the countryside. She bought a large piece of land in Shefford, then turned to her business partner and good friend Michel Richard to suggest that they build an ecological house together. The duo of investors became a quartet, when the parents of the baby (who has since had a little brother) joined in the project, adapted to meet the diverse needs of each.
“I had been looking for a farmhouse since 2017, but I hadn’t found anything in my budget,” explains Mr. Richard. When Isabelle bought a piece of land in 2019, I was already planning to follow the training on ecological houses offered by Solution ERA. We both started in October 2019.”
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Michel Richard and Isabelle Quinn have been business partners and friends for a long time. They were on the same wavelength when they had their eco-home built.
Reconcile two objectives
Their goals were not the same. Mr. Richard intended to settle in what would become his principal residence. Isabelle Quinn was aware that she would probably not go to the countryside every weekend. Thus was born the idea of creating two separate superimposed dwellings and making rooms available to travelers when they were free.
On the ground floor, where Michel Richard lives, the house has two bedrooms. Above, the more spacious apartment is spread over two levels. It includes a large kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a shower room.
“I strongly believe in degrowth,” says Mr. Richard. Pooling our resources, in the spirit of cohousing, and having a large garden, which we are several to take care of, is an ecological way of seeing things. »
They set themselves two goals: to build a healthy house, with materials that do not emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and a high-performance, double-frame house, whose shell would be very well insulated thanks to a combination of products that do not emit no VOC (rock wool, hemp, cellulose).
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHEL RICHARD
The stumps torn out during the excavation were kept in order to create a permaculture mound (Hugelkultur type), where fruit trees grow today.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHEL RICHARD
The frame, with double framework, was carried out by the Econovation team.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHEL RICHARD
The double-frame exterior walls were constructed with a Larsen type joist system. The cavities were filled with rock wool.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHEL RICHARD
Hemp wool, produced in Asbestos, was put inside the walls, between the rooms, because of its acoustic insulation properties. Hemp also serves as a humidity regulator in the house. It absorbs moisture or releases it, depending on the level of humidity in the air, even through the gypsum.
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When the pandemic forced a shutdown in March 2020, their plans were advanced. Their thinking too. With their Sweet Isabelle cupcake and shortbread shop closed, they stepped on the accelerator, taking advantage of the time they had.
“The goal of the exercise, for me, is to bequeath a legacy to my grandchildren and my children, specifies Isabelle Quinn. All the choices were made based on that. We didn’t want to bequeath something where everything would have to be redone in 40 years, if we’re no longer there. For the roof, for example, we chose the best quality sheet metal. It was not the luxury I sought, but what was most durable. »
Some choices were difficult to make.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Michel Richard and Isabelle Quinn are in the greenhouse, where, among other things, herbs grow.
We are used to choosing the beautiful and not always the practical and the durable. It’s tempting to put huge windows because the effect is magnificent. Except that if the interior is too sunny, in the summer, you will have to put air conditioning. We chose to respect a certain ratio of windows and to manage in the old fashioned way with canvases and curtains, rather than air conditioning.
Isabelle Quinn
A very large garden
The quality of the environment in which they would live was also at the heart of their concerns. Dreaming of settling in the countryside, Michel Richard learned a lot about permaculture before starting the project. Having never grown a carrot, he had also done agrobio volunteering (woofing) on ecological farms, working five hours a day, five days a week, in exchange for meals and accommodation, to see if he liked the contact with the land.
His experience was used since the development of a large permaculture vegetable garden, with fruit trees and a wide variety of berries, was carried out in parallel with the construction of the house.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHEL RICHARD
Two French friends who do agrobio volunteering worked in the garden last summer.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHEL RICHARD
One of Isabelle Quinn’s daughters, Marie-Hélène, who is a partner in the adventure, is in the vegetable garden with her son Camille. The zucchini is almost as big as him.
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“From May to November, the last two years, we put the finishing of the house on hold to work outside, reveals Isabelle Quinn. It was important for us to be able to feed ourselves from our land. Michel welcomed many wwoofers who came from France, Germany and Belgium to work on the external project. »
This desire to be with people from diverse backgrounds has given a new direction to the country house project, now called Le Camp Caché. “Michel wanted to be an innkeeper, observes Mme Quinn. We thought we could share this space and that the grandchildren would benefit from it. »
In short
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PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
On the ground floor, the vast space encompassing a kitchen, a living room and a dining room is abundantly lit. A certain ratio of windows has been respected so as not to have recourse to air conditioning.
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PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
The accommodation spread over two floors is made available to travelers when the owners do not plan to use it.
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PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Michel Richard lives on the ground floor in a spacious home with two bedrooms, with beautiful views of the surrounding nature.
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PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Here is one of the three bedrooms located on the upper floor
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PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
A small opening made in the wall allows you to see and touch the hemp, hidden behind the gypsum. This natural product has been favored for insulating walls inside, between rooms.
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PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Michel Richard dreamed of a farmhouse. He discovered a passion for permaculture. He likes to take care of the three hens in the chicken coop.
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Budget: around 1 million
Duration of preparation: 9 months
Duration of construction: 2 years (from November 2020 to November 2022)
Essential: aim for a certain food self-sufficiency by developing a large permaculture vegetable garden and a greenhouse
Another must: build a healthy and efficient ecological home