We are Kate and Marc, a New Zealand French couple who have been living in the Brittany region for many years. My husband and I moved into our current house four years ago and have spent the majority of this time renovating our house and a beautiful 18th century barn.. 

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​We have done as much of the work as possible ourselves and have

used local tradespeople for specialist jobs where necessary.

The whole project has been undertaken with the environment in mind.

From the very start we decided to use hemp concrete, recycled paper

insulation throughout, ecologic (plant-based) paints, and locally

sourced and milled wooden floorboards.

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​Along the way we've had some help from a variety of people, all willing

and keen to share their knowledge and expertise as well as much

needed  muscle power! We've made some lifelong friends throughout

making this more of a personal venture than merely a business project.



 

Energy and Waste:



​We were from the very outset of this project committed to minimising
our impact on the environment, not only in the way we renovated the
barn but also in helping our guests lower their impact too! 



During the renovation of the barn we kept lots of original materials we thought might come in useful later on in the building stage. We've used old shutters and windows for wardrobe doors and even used the original stone floor of the barn for the pathway outside. We kept the traditional cider press which now makes a beautiful feature in the garden. The trees that had to be taken down, were milled locally, dried for 3 years and now have a new life as the terrace of the house.  Subsequently we made sure we planted as many new trees as were felled.



We provide full recycling facilities and will happily add peelings etc to our ever increasing compost heap! We also have dual flushing toilets to reduce water consumption.Finally we know how easy it is to discard used items at the end of a holiday so we've created a book library and we also provide all those niggly essentials such as oil, salt and pepper to help reduce the need for our clients to go out and buy those vital ingredients every week. ​



One of the biggest areas we've focused on in these Gîtes is energy.  We've installed a wood burning stove that is fuelled by compressed wood pellets. Situated in the middle of the large living area the wood burner heats the entire house.  We have also installed a heat exchange ventilation system. This recovers the energy (heat) from the used air in the bathrooms and kitchen and pumps the heat into the bedrooms and living area.  We also have a heat pump that harnesses the energy in the outside air and uses this to heat the water for the Gîtes. ​ Our own house has a ground source heat pump which provides the energy for heating the water and the central heating system.



We've tried to cover the basics as well by installing double glazing and made every effort to make the houses airtight for maximum efficiency. We've also got energy efficient light bulbs and appliances. Our insulation is 30cm think in the ceilings and 12cm in the walls and is made entirely of recycled paper!​



The Community:



As locals, our youngest son is at school here in Pleudihen and I am an active member of the Parents Association. We spend lots of time involved in the activities of this association, helping to fund raise to support school projects. We are members of a local association open to the inhabitants of Mordreuc, our closest hamlet on the river Rance.  The association, the Mer des Druides (Mordreuc means ‘sea of the druids’) has a few social events each year, providing an opportunity for the small community at Mordreuc, particularly some of the elderly members, to enjoy each other’s company and strengthen our community ties.      ​



We try to share tools amongst our friends, especially those which were needed during the renovation phase. We use local businesses to maintain our garden machinery and tools. ​



Being in a busy area, with lots of cultural events we work hard to point our guests towards local events of interest.  Favourites include: the Fete du Doris, a colourful nautical festival held annually in August on the nearby river; La Fete des Remparts, a bi-annual medieval festival in Dinan; Etonnant Voyager, an annual travel literature festival held in St Malo.   Additionally we direct guests to support regional food producers such as the boulangerie in the village, the weekly market and our local farmshop. We also encourage people to taste the food and drink of the area - Brittany's famous cider can be bought from the cave in the village.​

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Finally we like to encourage responsible travel and try to promote sustainable options where practical (the ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo being a great option for our UK guests). We also have bikes on offer to help reduce road traffic in the area and our local bus service offers another alternative.​