Only 101 rooms to go! Restoring the Château first floor - Part 2 

Enjoy! Every day we are thankful for the amazing skills of the artisans working to save this beautiful place. And for us, it is a joy to look back on the results of our work.

We're thrilled you're sharing in our journey!

Thanks for your message. We hope that our project to save Chateau de Purnon will play a small part in keeping these incredible skills alive.

Thank you for your wonderful message. We're thrilled that our adventure is bringing you such joy!

We're thrilled that you're enjoying our adventure!

@ I honestly am!

Very handsome artisans too!

Myles, your commitment to heritage restoration does you great credit! Thanks for following our adventure!

I was thinking the same! Haha

Thank you for your wonderful message. We are thrilled that our adventure is bringing you such joy!

Thanks for your message. We hope our project here at Chateau de Purnon can play a small part in keeping these incredible trades alive.

Thank you Jean for your marvellous message. You can be proud of the many French people working to save Chateau de Purnon also - from our amazing architect Monsieur Frederic Didier to the many skilled artisans working on the roof and facades.

According to Dr William Buchanan's 'Domestic Medicine' (1785) vinegar and water is the best treatment for fainting... please be careful. Thank you for following our journey.

Thanks for your message. We've committed our life savings to restoring Chateau de Purnon, so we are extremely grateful to receive the support and assistance from the French Government. Our teams of artisans are amazing - we couldn't save Purnon without them!

Thanks for your message and for following our journey so closely! Small steps each week, great for our morale!

Merci pour votre merveilleux message. Nous sommes très reconnaissants d'avoir le soutien de notre architecte et de nos artisans. Ils sont tous fabuleux.

We're thrilled that you're enjoying our journey! Thanks for your message.

Thank you!

We are incredibly grateful for the skills and care of the wonderful team working to save Chateau de Purnon. We hope our project will play a small part in keeping these skills alive. Thank you for your message.

We can really feel the progress being made. Each step brings us a little closer to saving the chateau itself. Thanks for following our journey!

Our artisans are amazing - often using traditional techniques and materials they are bringing this wonderful place back to life. Thanks for following our adventure!

Thanks for your message. We fear Mr Ruskin may have rejected Chateau de Purnon's classical style. But hopefully he would have respected the traditional restoration techniques.

@ Indeed. The craftsperson's trace was everything to him. No machine-made trimmings.

Thrilled that you're observing beauty as you follow our restoration...

You're quite right. It's a work of art and one of the reasons Chateau de Purnon is fully heritage listed.

Thanks for following our adventure!

@ 🤗

Thank you for your message. We're thrilled that you're following our adventure. We are endeavouring to honour this incredible place with an authentic heritage restoration. We're learning along the way from incredible people whose skills and expertise are helping to save Chateau de Purnon. We love sharing their insights with our audience. And, yes, we work every day. It's exhilarating to see her transformation all around us. We wouldn't have it any other way!

Thank you for your wonderful message. We're thrilled that you're following our adventure. We're endeavouring to conduct a true heritage restoration. We wish to honour the incredible people whose skills and expertise are helping to save Chateau de Purnon - we love sharing their insights with our audience and we are always learning from them. And yes, we work every day. It's exhilarating to watch her transformation up close. We wouldn't have it any other way!

Thank you!

Thanks for your message - we're thrilled that you're enjoying our journey!

Thanks for your message and for following our journey!

Thank you for your message and for following our journey!

Thank you for your message. We are thrilled that people from across the globe can share in the joy of our journey to save this wonderful place!

Thank you for your wonderful message.

Thank you! We're thrilled that people from around the world are enjoying our adventure.

Thank you for following our journey to save Chateau de Purnon.

Merci pour votre merveilleux message. Nous espérons que notre restauration respectera la beauté du château. Nous tenons également à saluer la compétence des artisans qui travaillent à la sauvegarde du Château de Purnon. Nous sommes ravis que vous suiviez notre aventure !

They are wonderful. Saving Chateau de Purnon would be impossible without their incredible skills. Thanks for your message!

Thank you for your message. We feel very fortunate to be able to work with skilled artisans to save something of rare beauty. We're thrilled that so many people from around the world can share in the joy of our journey!

France is restoring lot of the 45.000 castles it own, would make lot of medals, but Purnon is iconic by his heritage and style, so yes, why not, as both of them are going frenchier by the time and taste it seems ;)

Thank you for your message. We're thrilled you're enjoying our adventure! We couldn't save this amazing place without the skills and expertise of the incredible team that are working with us.

Thanks for your message. But just to clarify - these are not tapestries. they are hessian wall paper backings (or burlap in some countries). They support the wall paper and create a void between the wall paper and the wall to protect the papers over the longer term.

Ah, thank you. Interesting. I expected some cloth tapestry to be nailed against the wall.

Thank you for following our journey!

Thank you!

We're thrilled you're enjoying our journey!

Thanks for your message. It's taken much planning and discussion and a huge amount of work but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thrilled you love them - you now own part of Purnon's roof!

Thank you for your message all the way from Nevada. We're thrilled that you're following our journey each week!

Thanks for your message. Yes, the modified roof with its late-19th century zinc guttering proved disastrous. We're grateful that we can advance this huge project with French Government support. Just to clarify, no EU money here. We're thrilled you're following our adventure!

Quite right... it's all a question of perspective! Good luck with the ranch!

Thank you for following our journey!

Thanks for your message. We look forward to revealing the wall papers soon. We do try and retain the parquetry where possible as we want to respect the chateau's eighteenth century origins. We will also reveal the showers as they progress. Without giving anything away (!) you may see some tiles then! We're thrilled that you're following our journey.

Thanks for your message and for following our journey!

Merci pour votre message.

Thank you for your message and for sharing our journey with others. We are thrilled that people from around the world are enjoying our adventure.

Merci pour votre message. Nous ne pourrions pas sauver le Château de Purnon sans la merveilleuse équipe d'artisans qualifiés qui travaillent sur ce projet complexe.

Hi Maria and Rowan, thanks for your message. Every chateau has its own story. For us, here at Chateau de Purnon we've chosen to focus on a true heritage restoration. We want to honour the skills and expertise of the incredible artisans who are supporting us using traditional techniques and materials. We hope to share the history of the people in whose footsteps we walk. We hope to use the amazing and sometimes mundane things we find here to better understand their lives. And we hope that future generations will be able to enjoy the harmony and beauty of this special place. We're thrilled that people across the world can share in our adventure. We both really appreciate your support and encouragement, Tim & Flick.

Thanks for following our journey!

Thanks for following our journey!

Thank you - we're thrilled that you're enjoying our adventure!

Thanks for following our journey!

Gracias por tu mensaje. Estamos encantados de que estés disfrutando de nuestros vídeos.

Thank you for following our adventure!

Wonderful message - thank you!

Thanks for your message!

Merci pour votre message!

We're thrilled you're enjoying our journey!

Thank you for following our adventure!

Thanks for your message. We find traces of the identities of the artisans who worked on Purnon in previous generations as we restore sections of the chateau. They signed their names and traced their tools in the stone, on the zinc and on the oak frame. Sometimes we recognise surnames whose descendants still live in our local villages. There is enormous respect for the workmanship of those in whose footsteps we walk today. They built a chateau without the technology (hydraulic lifts and cranes etc) that we can use today. Here at Purnon, they created a masterpiece. Every day we take small steps to save her. Thank you for your message!

We're thrilled you're following our journey!

Welcome! Thrilled that you've found us. Enjoy!

You're up late! Yes, there will be a heated towel rail in aged brass in the bathroom. The wiring has been installed but the rail will go in at around the same time as the light fittings. Very best wishes for your project. Safe travels!

Thank you!

Thank you for your message... it was just serendipity. We fell in love with Chateau de Purnon the moment we laid eyes on her. And we knew, despite all of the challenges, we had to be part of the journey to save her! Thank you for following our adventure.

What's not to love, She is beauty.

Thanks for your suggestion. We're thrilled that you're enjoying our journey.

Thanks for your suggestion. We collect the slate tiles as they are removed from the roof and craft them into beautiful boxed drink coasters which we sell via our website at www.chateaupurnon.com. We keep other important elements (such as hand forged iron nails, sections of the zinc guttering, certain elements of the oak frame, several of the old chimney pots etc) which will be displayed in our chateau museum.

We're thrilled you're enjoying our RU-vid Channel.

Gracias por su mensaje. Nos alegramos de que haya disfrutado de esta actualización sobre nuestro trabajo en Purnon.

Noted!

Merci beaucoup pour votre message!

Спасибо! Мы надеемся на это!

Bedankt voor je prachtige bericht. We zijn blij dat je ons avontuur op RU-vid volgt.

Indeed.

I don't think that was us (discussing having it copied). We have all the panels. Some have been taken down for protection purposes while the roof and facades were being restored on that corner of the chateau. It's a Rhand block painted paper from Reveillon Workshop in Paris from the end of the eighteenth century. The paper in this room is the last surviving example of it in France. We will definitely preserve and protect it. In fact we love it so many much, we chose it as the end papers for our book 'Chateau Reawakening'. Thanks for your message!

Thanks for following our journey!

None. Just on the job training!. We do benefit enormously from the skills of the tradespeople around us who show us safe and effective ways of doing things. We also have some handy family members who stay with us and share great tips. And we understand that in a heritage building there are some jobs that the unskilled should leave to serious professionals. Thank you for following our adventure!

@ Well you are doing a superb job!

We've kept some of the decorative elements for our chateau museum. But it has a high monetary value. So, as with much of the metal here at Purnon, it gets recycled. Thanks for following our journey!

Thank you - enjoy!

Thanks for your message.... possibly a tack hammer? Quite right - we should have used it in this instance. Thanks for your message and for following our journey!

@ No, you'd still use a hammer, but after you've got the nail far enough in (almost all the way in), you use this "Chasse clous" held over the nail head, and you'd hit that instead of the nail directly. You can also use it when you need the nail head to go below the surface (like on floors). I wish I could remember the English word for it, but it's not coming to me. If we could post pictures, I'd post a picture of one of mine. Anyway, hope that makes sense! And, I wish you a great week ahead, looking forward to the next videos!

I think you are thinking of a nail set.

@@airenesmiler6624 I looked it up, a nail setter tool is exactly it, but I knew it by some other name, who knows what. But, that's precisely what I was talking about, thank you!

@@RonRobertson-lafrance Also known as a punch or nail punch.

Thanks for your message. We plan as carefully as we can. But, with a huge old building like this, the unexpected pops up fairly regularly. We try and adapt. But we are grateful to be working with superb artisans and of course our wonderful architect. Without them, saving Chateau de Purnon would not be possible.

@ I like this giving credit where Credit’s due

Merci pour vos messages attentionnés (comme toujours!). Nous avons visité le musée du papier peint à Rixheim pour discuter des nombreux papiers peints que nous avons découverts au Château de Purnon. Nous allons bientôt commencer à restaurer certaines des pièces qui contiennent les papiers peints les plus rares. D'ici là, nous ferons d'autres annonces sur les papiers peints historiques de Purnon dans le courant du mois.

@ merci, oui ce musée en Alsace. Vous devriez pouvoir retrouver l' origine de vos papiers peints, peux être même , en faire rééditer. A propos de votre robe , magnifique , avec cette rangée de boutons !!!, peut- être essayer la refaire confectionner, ( et à votre taille !! ) par une école de confection ( gratuitement ). Connaissez vous ce modèle de robe, contactez des professionnels, racontez, votre histoire, le château, peux_ être une bonne surprise...? il serait dommage de ne pas la refaire vivre....!?

Thanks for your question. Where possible, we retain the parquetry floors. We treat them but we don't waterproof them as the bathroom does not contain a shower. Obviously, the alcoves in which the showers are installed are waterproofed. Thanks for following our journey!

If you view video #15 'The Mind-blowing skills of our Artisans' in the third segment Tim gives a detailed explanation of the reason why these zinc gutters were installed at the end of the 19th Century,, why they now have to be removed and what will replace them. Thanks for following our journey!

You can buy our old slate tiles from the roof converted into elegant drink coasters. Go to www.chateaupurnon.com and select 'shop'. All proceeds support the restoration of the roof. Thanks for following our journey!

Thanks for your question. The sander is a Redstone. Very easy to use. It works well in these smaller rooms where we try and tread lightly. It would be hard work in the grander rooms of the chateau!

@ thank you for replying and for your advices.

We use music from a music licensing website in order to avoid copyright issues. We select from their library. So this music is not publicly known as such. We do love that you enjoy it - thank you for following our journey!

There are around 40,000 chateaux (or large houses like Chateau de Purnon) across France. They formed part of the economic model in Western Europe in earlier centuries. Essentially noble families were granted land from the King. They rented that farming land to tenant farmers and the income they received financed the construction of these huge houses. They had large families (to guarantee the surviving sons who would inherit the noble title and the estate). They also had servants and domestic staff to make their lives comfortable. Hence , the large houses to accommodate these people. They entertained in grand style and their homes were designed originally as fortresses to protect their wealth and then from about the 17th Century on , as grand statements of their social prestige. These buildings are the chateaux that we can admire today. Thankfully, the economic model that gave rise to them no longer exists. However, preserving the architectural heritage of previous generations is a project worth striving for (we believe!). Thanks for your question and for following our journey!

Thanks for your message. In this bedroom and bathroom, the shower actually occupies a separate alcove with its own vanity. We have designed this little apartment in this way to preserve a sense of space in the bathroom which featured in this video.