Billy, before you begin to rip out walls to enlarge the main kitchen, as an ex-professional chef I would like to point out a few common mistakes that people make when creating industrial kitchens. One major mistake is to forget the amount of storage and refrigeration area you need. Also what is commonly referred to a the “Pass” area where the meals are finally assembled is a very important area and needs careful consideration as getting it wrong can cause huge “bottleneck” problems at time of service. My advice would be to get professional design help before you go ahead including getting advice from professional chefs about the layout. Also you need to consider where the dining area will be in relation to the kitchen so that transfer of meals is made easy and efficient. Good luck and keep up all the great work you guys.
This is where the masterminds comes into play..Billy reads these and has a good brain for knowledge what other things can your knowledge give him more tools to conquer this huge task,I love that he says every day comment below.. I am sure he will work one room at a time just like how he has done the office. Next should be checking all the roofs so that the work he does actually can have a roof over it😉😊 we love you Billy crack on fearless leader..Your wise Phillip send him more ideas 💡 Keeping the walk-ins seperate will also cut down on the heat they produce into the kitchen. I see the huge Pizza oven as well used for all sort of different foods.Eggplant parm,veil, lasagna French foods etc..If he builds it hopefully everyone finds this beautiful village.
I would agree if you want professional chefs as well as groups to use this kitchen, it is not very helpful to make one large area. It will look very pretty I'm sure of it but you should go for practically here
Hey there Billy. Let me know what the overall dimensions are of the refectory and I will look at a little conceptual plan for you. I hold two degrees in architecture. I’d love to give you some ideas. Just need length width and height and roughly where the windows and doors
A busy restaurant kitchen designed by a professional chef is a thing of beauty. A professional chef can walk into a kitchen designed by an architect or other space planner and tell you right away if that person ever cooked anything let alone dealt with the seriousness getting the work flow right.
I love your idea for expanding the kitchen to include a catering/cooking school set up. For the other large area it could be a great dining area. One part with a large table, say 25 people and the rest set up with tables for 2 and 4 people. That way it could be used for multiple uses. With your ideas for the bedrooms, kitchen and dining it could be used for large family reunions, week long cooking classes, conferences and many other large gathering ideas! So exciting to have a vision!
As you have a Chapel, you could host weddings and the bedrooms for guests and the large rooms for the actual wedding venue. You could reinstate the biblioteque you bought and make that into one of the wedding room venues either as the main room or the library/snooker/chat n chill / Cognac room. In the summer you could put up a marquee or not. Good luck 👍
Yes, I thought the exact same thing. Weddings are a huge money maker.. and having not only the chapel for the ceremony and the salons to host the wedding reception, but on top of that also all the rooms to convert it into a hotel, it's such an excellent add on. Plus, it's location, architecture and history make it even more romantic for people. All you need then is to hire some good professionals for marketing it and attracting clients from all over the world. You can even team up with some already well established wedding planners!!
This is SUCH a great idea - I am (or was before the pandemic) an event planner / photo shoot producer and was always looking for a place like this for destination weddings, events or shoots for luxury brands. I imagine the daily wear and tear would be less than a standard hotel, too.
Billy, I personally think a luxury home would be pointless, but a business center or a even specialized school (cooking, art, music, or even a place of studying history or theology) could utilize the kitchen, the rectory, the library, e.t.c. I love the chapel! You're doing a wonderful job!
The left side wing where Sadie is could have a few more nice apartments to rent out, the middle wing straight in from the gate could have hotel-type or BnB rooms, and the right side wing could be for big events, with rooms up top for guests, larger convention-type rooms, etc, on the 1st floor, and the ground floor for weddings, with dressing rooms etc since it's near the chapel, and other similar gatherings. So much potential, it's exciting to think about!
@@TalkTalk44 Well that could apply to Sadie and Mo, too, or any rooms that might be let out. I wouldn't let that stop me, you'd have to be aware of the goings on. And pretty sure the parking would be outside the gate.
With more and more people working from home the conference might become a thing of the future so people get together a few times a year rather than the office daily . Just a thought
What an amazing building. I am a retired clergyman and have been envisioning the convent for retreats and conferences. You have the residential space, kitchen, chapel, outdoor meditative space and meeting floor space. A unique, historical, beautiful, isolated, relaxing retreat center in a small town would attract groups from all over Europe - possibly from around the world. A huge room like the rectory could easily be fitted with a wood panel folding divider to transform the space from huge to two intimate space. The smaller rooms could, without much expense, be transformed in meeting rooms. Groups from corporate boards to religious entities would be thrilled to find a place like this to hold residential gatherings.
I'd love to see it retain its connection with things spiritual, rather than become a wedding/whatever venue for the very rich. The chapel is especially lovely. Are there any pilgrimage routes in this part of France? It would be wonderful accomodation for guests on pilgrimage. Another option would be as a school offering residential courses in horticulture (that big garden!), art, philosopy, literature and music.
I love the convent so much!! 💖 If you're thinking a retreat venue (conferences, small weddings, themed events like scrapbooking, quilting, cooking, etc.) I'd keep that big space as a modular space. Like setting up long tables for study/crafting/cake decorating/whatever, or filling it with just chairs for a lecture, or filling it with round tables for a small wedding reception, or filling with bar-height tables for an evening party reception, with a little dance floor, etc. Don't underestimate the advantage of having a large flex space! 😃
@@Cojo910 - I’m not sure what the term “canceled priests” means but historically there has been/is a pandemic of pedophile catholic priests. I am an ex-catholic and now a Christian. If you study the Bible and the history of the Roman Catholic “church,” you will realize that Catholicism is counterfeit Christianity from satan (the devil).
A boutique hotel would be a great idea for the convent. An extra large kitchen and the adjoining dinning hall would be perfect for catering a party or an event space too. Most especially for weddings since you have everything there. It lends itself to this especially with the lovely garden areas, the chapel, a dinning hall and or ballroom and the beautiful common areas to enjoy.
I have gone to several “makers” retreats in rural Italy. We used the equivalent of a room the size of the Refectory for setting up multiple tables for sewing, art work, quilting etc. In addition, twice during the week a local chef came in and taught us how to cook with their local produce, special recipes, etc. I think the Convent could become a premiere retreat/conference center as well as a wedding venue (the Chapel!). I am ready to book in! ☺️
You read my mind! I, too, thought that a crafting kind of retreat would be perfect for this place! Rooms to rent, classes to take and lovely scenery! I used help run an "art college" in a medieval group I was in. We would hold classes in all sorts of things like cooking, calligraphy, rosary making, illumination, sewing, etc. This would have been the perfect setting!
@@damealeta3541 Love your thinking as well. I would visit just for cooking classes! Can you imagine learning French rustic cooking in that setting? WOW!
Do you have the websites to any of the retreats you went to that you wouldn’t mind sharing? I used to go to retreats like those in France but have been struggling to find any in Italy :)
I think it would be wonderful as a banquet facility/special occasion rental. There’s a chapel for a wedding, large kitchen for food preparation. The large room could be a banquet hall/ dance floor. Rent the rooms to the guests. Then for businesses to use the facility, large room could be used as the presentation area and rooms for guests could still be rented out. This would also provide you with an income. It’s also large enough that one wing could be converted to apartments. So many possibilities. It is absolutely stunning!!
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest of the US, where there is a local well-known business that takes historic buildings and transforms them into pubs/restaurant/hotels/cinema combos (whatever is appropriate to the property) while embracing and respecting the history of the buildings, usually giving old historic abandoned buildings a new lease on life. It is a family-owned business called McMenamins, and I would totally check them out for inspiration for what to do with the convent. They really do a superb and magical job.
When I was a kid, I was always visiting Edgefield, which is the old poor farm the McMenamins brothers transformed into a hotel. I loved all the themed rooms inspired by real people who lived there, even having their stories incorporated into murals on the walls of the rooms. It was magical as a child. Now they finally opened a McMenamins in my town, where they transformed an old Elks Temple which has been abandoned my entire life, into a thriving business. It is amazing to see old, long abandoned buildings taken care of and not just torn down for the next new thing. And I agree, Billy should research them a little for inspiration. I can see the convent being transformed into a small business that not only is profitable but also a center of community for the town.
Hello from Washington State! McMenamins Anderson School says hello ;) Nice to see a former local enjoy the preservation of our history here in the USA. I've spent the past 3 years paying out of pocket to fully restore a 1950s home. Once it's wrapped we plan to aim at something more ambitious. Check out the Victorian hotel up for sale in Port Townsend. That's a gem waiting to be polished. Cheers!
I suggest the big room gets set up as a banquet hall or a ballroom. You could host weddings easily and the chapel could be used. Love your renovation ideas! Go for it! 👍👍😁🎉
That is a miserable, low margin business. People who do that well have a calling for hospitality. Also, in the US that works but France gets married differently.
Billy, among your many talents is the ability to choose and put together a great team. Rick is a wonderful addition! I always look forward to seeing what he’s up to today.
I think if you opened it up for weddings they can use the kitchen for catering and the large room for a dining room. Plus the local people get to use it.
Great idea as a possible Convention Centre. Great job with the plumbing Billy! I do agree, as a caterer, that the kitchen absolutely MUST flow properly for efficiency. Knowing you, you'll do it right Billy. Great video Ryan!
I think your convent property would make an incredible retreat center. A place to hold 3-day or week long events, workshops-- large gatherings and intimate gatherings. Even private retreaters who are working on writing and other creative individual projects. I also think you have amazing space for half day/daily rental--bridal showers, birthday parties, receptions, family reunions...
Maybe not so much luxury, I would prefer simple yet comfortable, with nice art for the time period. I do agree, cooking classes would be great and the library idea as well.
Once you are done renovating, you could set up a lovely website for the convent as a multi-use venue. List the features and then anyone can book throughout the year for whatever they need it for. As you mentioned, it would serve any purpose (personal, professional, commercial, etc). It already has free advertisement through your RU-vid channel. I’m sure you would book it up in no time! You could include local contacts to catering, flower arranging, etc as needed. Whatever you do, it will be great!
It would be great for destination weddings using the chapel and its large room as the dining room/ballroom. People from the United States and Europe travel to destination weddings all the time. Blessings on your endeavor. Rachael
I think your ideas are wonderful. I would also get the chapel renovated so if people wanted to get married there it is available. The large room could be a multipurpose room for dining, dancing or convention space for large meetings. I can see many uses for the property. Look forward to see your progress.
I agree. Make it the premiere wedding destination in the area. The chapel, dining/reception area, cocktails in the courtyard, honeymoon suite, bridal suite, guest overnight rooms, photos in the garden. Then off weekends and during the week promote it for conferences, corporate meetings/retreats, team building, cooking classes, yoga and meditation in the chapel, community gardens, gardening classes. I’m already writing a business plan in my head! So many viable options.
The convent would be a wonderful wedding venue! You would need to have the Chapel consecrated again but how lovely to have the wedding, reception and hotel stay all in one place! Good luck with it whatever you decide!
You could use the property for events, such as weddings. The guest can stay in the rooms, the wedding ceremony in the gorgeous chapel, the large room can be the ballroom for the reception. The courtyard is great for outside weddings or pictures. Also other events can be held there, like conventions or business meetings. The sky is the limit! I think this property will do very well. Love all the beautiful, thoughtful restoration and improvements so far! Now, time to "Crack on"
For the common room, possibly folding walls. Then you could vary the room size by the needs of the activity. As a sales venue, the entire space could be used for vendors, but for a conference it could have breakout lectures/classes in multiple smaller rooms.
I have been watching this jealousy and enviously. So glad to have something to look forward to seeing everyday. With all the room a wedding venue would be fanastic
Love that you’re going to renovate the suites. Great idea. My thoughts are that you speak to a restaurant chef abt what they’d do with the kitchen as they might want a cool room and a prep room and specific restaurant quality fixtures. Having that in place opens up the options in having a group come in and run a restaurant there and renting out the spaces involved including the big dining room and possibly outdoor dining too. This would provide instant guest opportunities for the suites and if you have other big rooms rented out to art galleries and brocantes and other exciting shopping options then the restaurant would be able to run thru the day too. I can see it all coming together!
You may want to test the bedrooms to see how much noise can be heard. You can be in one room and yell, while Ryan starts at end of hall and films, walking closer and closer to your room. If he gets to your room and sound can be heard, it will help indicate how much noise insulation you would need between walls of each bedroom. Plus it would satisfy my curiosity. 😀
Studio space with live-in amenities would be a good use for some of the rooms. The chapel lends itself to a performance venue for recitals, chamber music, music clinics, etc. The room off the chapel where you are planning to put the library furniture was the sister's private chapel area known as the choir. Because the chapel was open to the hospital - it was really public. The side chapel was not available to the public so the sisters could pray there in peace without being observed, but they could still see the altar and tabernacle. The refectory would make a great conference/training space for larger groups. I think what Mo found in the garden was the area where the sisters disposed of broken sacramental (blessed) religious items. Because they are sacred, they cannot be discarded as normal items are - so often they were buried. You might encourage him to clean them and put them in a display case to help tell the story of the convent. I love the green gates on the front. The color usually associated with St. Joseph is green so they are really fitting.
A Christmas market would be beautiful at the convent, with people paying for stalls that sell pancakes, mulled wine, Christmas decor etc, either inside on the groundfloor or outside in the courtyard. Maybe it could bring some business to the city aswell?! 🎄🤶🎅
I was thinking a similar thing, but not just restricted to Christmas time, you could have a regular artisan market/farmers market, kitchen to be used as a demonstration of how to cook the produce.
The whole building screams "Wedding venue!" It has the Chapel for the ceremony, the large room for the meal, the room with the stained glass could be a breakout room or dance area, multiple bedrooms - a whole wedding group self-enclosed - beautiful gardens to allow the wedding to spill outside in better weather, a catering sized kitchen. You might convert one of the flats at the front into the wedding suite - total luxury, massive jacuzzi bath, 4 poster bed, away from the rest of the guests to avoid noise issues!!!!! You could use the rooms during the week as a self-contained conference facility. The flats at the front could be also adapted to housing for an on-site facility manager/chef etc and possibly made into smaller units for other live in staff. Just a few ideas.
Billy, I love the idea of an event center such as weddings. You have the chapel for the ceremony, the kitchen to caterer the dinner, the refectory as the ball room for the wedding dance with a band. The rehearsal dinner would also be held there and guest could stay in the rooms. You would still have enough room to make apartments to rent out, I would think. You could still have a cooking school as well. The convent being an event center has many many possibilities. It will take a crew of maids, chiefs, wait staff, maintenance people. How big the town is might determine if you would be able to hire enough workers.
This is absolutely fascinating. It doesn’t even matter what you do with it, I’m hooked on the day to day restoration. Maybe Airbnb? Of bed and breakfast? You go guy.
When you get the garden sorted the convent would make a great wedding venue. You have a chapel, lots of accommodation and reception areas to suit weddings, conferences, summer schools etc. It is going to be awesome!
That kitchen is the key. All that space lends itself to an excellent commercial kitchen. I’d think it would make a tremendous convention (convent-ion) center, and with the chapel and excellent wedding venue. Reception hall for rent. Fitted rooms for the Convention guests or wedding guests. But I wouldn’t do a residential style kitchen, but fully outfitted restaurant style kitchen
The convent will manifest it’s purpose under your capable guidance in the fullness of time. Whatever direction it goes, it will be magnificent. Ryan looked particularly dapper today. Crack on boys. 🙏🏻❤️
A wonderful building for an art centre for photography painting textile work and also for conferences. The place is already spacious with the garden. So many possibilities.
I definitely see this space used for writers, painters workshops as well as a space for culinary arts school. Billie, you mentioned Mystery Weekend get away also. I know Gwendolyn is working on a women's program too, and so perhaps they could all be featured throughout the year. What a wonderful challenge and adventure. Good luck! 💗
Sounds a good idea but there is a recession on and wonder if those creative people would have the money to do these things in the future? I expect Billy will sell it on when finished as the insurance is sky high? But just guessing; and certainly dont mean to negate your comment in any way.
I love the idea of a small school where classes could be held for trade; cooking, gardening, construction, farming, yarn spinning, anything really. Conferences, meetings, parties. Its all so fantastic! Your work is amazing and inspiring!
Billy you have an incredible space with this convent! With your drive and imagination, it would be a great space for a wedding venue as well as conference center. I love your idea for a mystery weekend! Lots of potential!
Congrats to Mo for his finds. Rick and Ryan are wonderful per usual. Love the idea of a commercial kitchen for cooking classes as well as Christmas markets, events, conferences, concerts etc. Thanks for sharing 😍😘
I enjoy your videos. I would suggest you consider involving an architect to help you reimagine the space and a designer to help you with the finishings to achieve your vision of the convent as an upscale gathering place.
We have Air B & B’s here in the US. They are generally inexpensive places to stay in when traveling for business or short stays while on there way to their destination. Most are small homes or apartments. It’s something to look into. If you have a coffee shop and /or restaurant and such in the building and others in the community, it will boost your traffic. Also, some units could be for families traveling as well. They’re generally a more cozy and comfortable place to stay than the over priced hotels. Most people and even small businesses look for these kinds of opportunities. It could be a great niche in a struggling economy. It would help farmers and small businesses in the area as well.
An art gallery would be fantastic. The large room with the library would have historical books on art and photography withe a large table in the middle where people can checkout the books. They can’t take them off the premises. The other rooms could be artist studios, painting, sculpting, photography with darkrooms,etching, printing with a cost for having an internship there. The artist would also rent a room to live in during is stay of a month or so, tbd. The school could also train chefs in the large kitchen and serve meals to the artists in a communal dining room. A couple of businesses couple be on site specializing in artist supplies and perhaps a grocer.
You could use dividers in the massive room. I see this a lot in Australia, a junction room can be one massive room or three different rooms depending party size. Just a thought 💭 there is so many different ways you could use it. 😊so happy for you and Gwendolyn
The kitchen is lovely, the doors and frames looking great. The very big panelled room is wonderful for any type of large gathering, seminars, workshops, conferences, etc. Perhaps pull-out dividers could be added for smaller groups, but it would be so nice to leave the room big. If there was a Wedding in the Chapel, then the reception/banquet, dance, could be set up in there very nicely! It could be called The Great Room! Absolutely YES on raising the ceiling! With paneled walls, a beautiful crown molding and elegant chandeliers it would be "jaw-dropping"!!!
If you want a multi-function space in that big room you could consider adding some rigging bars to the ceiling so that events can be hosted easily with lighting and sound equipment. Then you can easily put up temporary set ups such as a DJ booth for parties, a small stage for speakers and presentations, ambient lighting for gala dinners etc. Carpeting lends itself to this kind of room though to absorb noise.
@@poodlegirl55 it needs to be on shirts..Crack On, Happy Days ,amazing, Wolf pack..Written in the Pethericks Font..With the you tube channel for advertising..If this keeps growing all of this can be the reality of this channel..
Billy, Could the Refectory be a lecture room and a meeting room, or even a Conference room for Businesses, or a room for the local residents to discuss town policy etc? Maybe a community space for the local charities to run evening entertainment or Jumble sales and the like?
If you have weddings at the convent, the refectory could be used for receptions. The caterer could use the kitchen. En suites would be great for the bedrooms.
turn the refectory and kitchen into a restaurant. You can rent it out to a small cafe, which in turn can provide catering to any events in the building. Court yard area can have tables with places to sit. Its a beautiful spot for this usage.
You could even convert all those little rooms into Tiny house type dwellings for tourists . Airbnb type things. A bed, a sitting room, small kitchen and bathroom all kitted out nice. 😀
I love how you make sure that everyone who works with you are included on your videos, and how you praise their hard work and talents. Great qualities of a leader! As they say, it’s easy to be a boss but to be a leader it requires a lot of talent and respect for others and you have those qualities.
Love your videos and the team making everything possible. As far as the Convent usage, I recommend you give some thoughts around the "flow" of people. Will the eventual usage permit anybody wandering around 24/7? Which spaces need to be "off-limits" all of the time? Some of the time? For instance, the kitchen... People should not be able to, or have to, walk through the kitchen. If you consider apartments, then cooking becomes a necessity - gas and venting, etc. Access to the only elevator for each and every space of use? Consider installing internal electricity use meters for rentable spaces. I do like the comments viewers have made about large events with the potential for internal catering. How would one envision staffing such a venue? Keep up the good work and I do enjoy your videos!
Hi Billy, good job on cutting in the sink. Someone may have already suggested this but the cut out piece would make a great matching cutting board. Everything is looking so good. You guys are doing a wonderful job. Tell Rick hello from the USA. and he’s so right about painting being therapeutic. I’m a self taught painter and change the colors of my walls every two years or so. Happy renovating guys, love the show/channel.❤❤❤
i like the hotel/ conference center/ wedding / event space. I think there can be rooms for guests to say and it is big and pretty enough to host events of all types!
If you're considering using this in such a capacity, you might want to leave the dining room clear. You will need a large meeting space for to use as a Multi use large space.
You could have multiple business in the buildings. A smal b&b, a restaurant, som kind of posh shop, a place to take a painting course or pottery a art gallery
Hi Billy, I must admit I haven't read through all these hundreds of comments to see if I'm duplicating another idea. But here goes: I think this venue could be set up as a music conservatory. You could set up large rooms on the ground floor as instructional spaces. The residential rooms on the second and third floors could double as personal practice/development spaces. The chapel could serve as a community performance venue for recitals, and feature a magnificent grand piano in the alter space. The niches could feature busts of famous composers. The apartments near the gate could house the faculty and head master. The rectory could be a dining hall. (I think it's near the kitchen if I'm not mistaken.) This could be the "Juliard" of France.
That large room would be great for a dinning area. For conferences, they could always arrange the tables for power point presentations etc. If you have another room, it can be a lounge as well. Great idea… ( think it was mine..😂 ) 😊
It’s been interesting listening to you creative brainstorming. You have some great ideas. Can see it becoming a fabulous hotel and wedding venue with the refectory as a ball room with piano and bespoke bar 🥂🍹
Cracking job of the sink and tiling Billy , your idea for improving the convent , sounds the right way to go , got to look ahead , plan for its future possible usage , well done Billy , 🙏
That crew of yours, though not a lot, are the MOST personable bunch I’ve ever witnessed (from afar) while working. Rick’s smile is infectious. Even if one hated to get up & go to work, he never shows that. They ALL have great attitudes. Plus, love your idea for the convent. I would love to visit one day & perhaps stay there on a vacation. Take care friend, stay safe, work smarter, not harder. Love from Texas 🇨🇱 And CRACK ON. 👍
Billy, I like the idea of raising the ceiling in the large room. Might make a great looking ballroom/dance floor/ that could be adapted to a dining room or a place to display that lovely library wood paneling that you have there. But I envision a large room with a high ceiling, white walls and gold leaf features with chandeliers, would make a fine impression. Also, keeping it as a large room would make it available to rent as a concert space that chairs could be added or taken away as needed.
I’m still voting for a luxury wedding destination venue! Where the nuns ate, the refectory, with a higher original ceiling would make a beautiful wedding reception room! Tables, dancing, etc. 😊❤
I'm loving all of the ideas! A big commercial kitchen, the refectory can be a beautiful event space! Weddings, business retreats, pop-up markets. A wonderful hotel or small artist spaces or both. The sky's the limit.
Rather than size down that large room think of convention meetings, banquets, parties, school dances etc. Phillip Bolan has great ideas on his suggestions.
I think its use as a hotel may depend upon where it is situated. Parking also needs consideration. As a luxury home the interiors would need a big upgrade and with big rooms, usually comes big heating bills, particularly with high ceilings. I do like the idea of a conference centre, in which case you may need to consider how big those bedrooms need to be to make it economically viable.
Hi there, another idea 8s a retreat centre. Including yoga room, library, spacious kitchen. Also where artists, writers and crafter's can do courses. Rent a space for an artist in residence where they can work on a collection. Cheers Cath
I like your ideas for the convents future use. Good job on the sink. One more step in the right direction. Hope getting the lift done won't be as expensive as your thinking. Rick your a good man and the camera loves you. You got a good wolf pack Billy.
I absolutely love your ideas, Billy!!! I hope your next step is looking for an architect to help you make the most of all the spaces. They may come up with solutions to your renovations that you might not otherwise come up with. Also, your followers will get a better sense of the vision you and Gwendolyn have for the convent, and will be more motivated to help you raise the money to get it completed. Having a good plan in place really gets people excited to watch your videos so they can participate in the journey with you and your family. I'm so excited for you guys. It's going to be so beautiful when it's done. Cheers to you all. See you tomorrow. 💖💖💖
Rick seems very courageous, painting with such a nice vest on, not worried about it being ruined by accumulated paint drips, paint spray etc. Crack-on!
In the town I grew up in this was sort of referred to as a community center but it functioned as more than a typical community center does. It had access to the public sure but it could also be used privately as well. I think the size and amenities the convent has is great for the purpose you want to give it.
Could you make it a boutique B&B with the bonus of an onsite spa? I also love D. Weihe Christmas market idea and also include a spring and fall "Courtyard Markets". The idea of the kitchen being expanded is wonderful and would defiantly lend itself, as you said, to be utilized for cooking instructions.
I would do bottom floor little shops and artsy studios with 1st floor being smaller studio apartments for living and top floor more like penthouse versions to live in…Make it an up market place with restaurants doctor suite and kids playground etc with communal spaces for all ti enjoy, some of the suites can also be rented out like BNB etc
I'd love to see this place as a venue of some kind! You have the ability to host quiet a number of people and It would make such a cool music venue/hotel. I really love seeing all the work you guys have done in the renovations and look forward to seeing whatever you decide to do with the building in the end :)
The big room is amazing! I think you had a library planned in one of the other rooms, but my first idea was a big library/seminar room. So where you could have a lot of bookshelfs around the walls, with the possibility to have additional Seating for an audience and a slightly raised podium to host podium discussions or lectures etc. Also possibly smaller concerts, although you already have the chapel that probably provides a better acoustic situation.
As a career chef, the convent would make an amazing culinary school, the kitchen fitted with a commercial layout, the refectory as a dining room, and the chapel as a public restaurant. The rooms for boarding, and the gardens for growing all the things that the kitchen needs..Open internationally, check out the Chefs Garden in Huron ohio, this venue is similar to what I have in mind.
Possibilities are endless! I envisage different parts can serve different purpose but perhaps one central part can glue it together? Food for thought! Mo is gentle, patient and determined, I love his attitude and his channel ! 💕
In the refectory, have removable walls to make smaller spaces but design the room as a large ballroom. I see big band dance hall, night club, wedding receptions, festival space, formal dining room, party space, indoor market space or any special event space for the town. And I really like the idea for the kitchen, a larger kitchen can also open the idea to chefs table specials or supplying the event space. However, that large fireplace reminds me so much of what we all imagine and remember from Beauty and the Beast, so remaking that atmosphere would be magical. Thanks for involving us and making it happen.
Thinking on this for a business plan, maybe coordinate with one or two other chateau youtube channels west of Paris for combo tours. Start off in Paris, see the sights, road trip to x chateau for tour lunch, make deal with local hotel and dinner, drive to convent and tour that and chateau eat lunch and bus back to Paris. That could be a nice profitable business.
Billy- if you have a large reception room and a large kitchen then apart from what you have mentioned already about themed weekends or events then it is a facility the town can use for all sorts of events all through the year. Weddings and wedding receptions for locals as well as possible business start-ups and conventions!
That living room space you could have a dividing wall to half the room that slides open. You can then have it as a large room or two smaller rooms to rent out separately for different occasions. Meetings. Seminars. Etc.
