Billy you could make a stunning table from the oak in the basement for the kitchen. Those boards are really thick and you could get wrought iron legs to match the wrought iron wine wine rack. The restoring of cupboards from the passage way would look amazing with that oak wood.
I suggest bringing in a commercial caterer to advise the setup of the kitchen. They will know the best way to set it up if you intend for this kitchen to be used for events in the future. Looks great!
I think that corridor would have been a breeze way before the doors were installed so the dressed granite by the cellar stairs makes sense as it was once outside
@@amysbees6686 yes, the risk of fire was far greater due to the use of open fires,it's often why you will find old kitchen building totally seperate to main dwellings
I agree with not cramming everything in the kitchen into a little corner!!! That kitchen would be perfect for having a few separate work zones: baking area, food prep, etc and may need more than one sink! Yes, and use those gorgeous oak boards in the basement for shelving and worktops!!!
Yes. Having everything in one corner does not work if you have a number of people using the kitchen. We have a staffroom where everything is in one corner and it's very inefficient. People have to queue to use the sink and the microwave and get access to the fridge. The other corner of the room only has an oven which we hardly ever use! It was designed as a domestic kitchen but not for 30 people trying to get lunch and cups of coffee.
Yes! Use the wine racks in the kitchen.. Sand blasted, powder coated, filled with wine and a nice big padlock on the outside. I’m sure that room could handle two racks.
Shawn moved the bodies. Thanks for the great tour of the basement. Imaginations run wild when people see a hole in the ground. Shawn give the bodies back to their loved ones and stop this madness.
Technology has advanced so much as far as making things easier and safer to use. But after seeing how chateaus and the convent is erected and stone, wood,, metal supplies etc used back then,, we've traded strength and real quality for ease. I really appreciate people like you who respect it and honor it instead of tearing it down! 🇺🇸
In the kitchen you need to decide what kind of kitchen you are creating - just for the family, semi-professional or professional because that determines how many sinks you require because of the hygiene regulations for businesses.
The two large slabs of wood you found on the floor. I would take them and have a dining table made for the new kitchen. It would be a great conversation piece and fit with your moto. Everything is reused.
Thank you for the basement tour! The lights make a big difference, don't they!? That place is built like a fortress! Amazing. And just imagine the last time those two big oak beams on the floor were put there. Revolution would still have been in the air. Can you imagine the nuns having to go into the basement with their tallow candles? Wouldn't want to lose the candlelight down there. 🙏🏻💗🙏🏻
Favorite phrase today was "having a snoop about" by Sean. Thought you had worked out a kitchen design with some pros? You don't want to build a kitchen without a clear plan. The chef and cooks will not be happy with you! Loved the basement tour. Crack on!
@@12snapper43 and it will be... this group obviously know what they're doing! Otherwise they wouldn't have literally thousands and thousands and thousands of people watching their videos...
Look at the size of those wooden beams in the cellar. There must have been some massively strong nuns in the convent back in the day. "Sister Anastasia, do you need help moving those beams?" "No thank you, Reverend Mother, I'm well able. I'll come back for the second one in a minute. "
Could you use those giant beams as legs for a giant kitchen table or counter height table in the center of room? All those extra thick boards down there could be the table top. It would be stunning! I can imagine a huge light fixture hanging over it, and the table all decorated in the center, some custom benches. Oh, my imagination is going wild. Lol. I love the idea with the wine racks.
I think it would be cool to bring that wine cage up to the kitchen to repurpose and use for the wine now. It is such a cool piece of the convent. I was looking up at the ceiling, that would be the floor above. What is that made out of. I didn't recognize it. Isn't the sink going to sit too low if it's under those windows? Maybe put the sink on a solid wall and leave the windows for viewing with tables and chairs. If I think about the amount of time I've spent at my sink and if I actually looked out the window, I would say, you really don't need a window over a sink. Use the windows as a resting spot to observe from instead.
Ya that’s a very cool wine rack. I was hoping to see the other side of that spot in the chapel where the floorboards are different. I remember Billy saying perhaps there was once stairs there that went to the basement.
13:27 Looking at that fireplace I would consider turning one of those large beams on the basement floor into a mantle and possibly for the other large fireplace in the other part of the convent. I think the wine rack would be a lovely original feature for the kitchen though I think I would turn the bottom half into an appliance garage type thing. Really? You want the sink right next to the electrical panel?? That would never pass code here.
I agree. My thought was unless you plan on spending hours standing at the sink why give it the best view? Where he originally was thinking would be better. I would rather see a small table and stools at the window so one could sit and have a great view of the courtyard.
Brilliant tour of the basement Billy. Imagine back in the day, being down there working away in those little storerooms with cupboards or having to go down to fetch a bottle of red… with just a candle…
The basement was used to also store the root vegetables over winter. Veg like carrots, turnips, potatoes, parsnips, onions and other alliums. Having a couple of boiler heated hot water tanks would be useful for water to the kitchen, washrooms, and baths.
Awesome, brave souls. Just the right touch of spooky music! The basement itself: nothing but a sense of emptiness. As is fitting. Nothing like embracing your fear and discovering there was nothing to be afraid of. Blessings all.
The beams in the basement are impressive. Spotlights focused on the fireplace will be cool. If there will be work tables, pendant lights are great. And undercabinet lighting.
Love it all! The mere size of that kitchen is going to create such awe when you enter! Have you considered breaking it up into sections, like a place where meat is prepared, a marble counter top for a pastry/baking area, a place to chop vegetables, etc., etc. You have already come such a long way! It is going to be lovely! I cannot wait to see what you do with it!
As a woman who has done the cooking for my large family for almost 50 years, I suggest thinking about “step saving” for the cook when planning the layout of the kitchen. ❤ 😊
I’ve seen all sorts of great ideas for those oak planks! Table, island any sort of surface for the kitchen would look great with the exposed beams! The wine rack would be beautiful refinished and in the kitchen! Original wine rack and shelving would be fantastic! See, your haunted basement gifted you materials for the kitchen!🎉
Sean really appreciates old structures, planks of wood and antiques. He’s fun to watch as he explores. The wine cage is pretty special. The kitchen is taking shape and I think the scaffolding lift is a game changer for Sean. xx
RE: The Wine rack. After the rack is cleaned, suggest you contact several 'Fine" resturants, in France and England, to see if you can get them to save their finer empty labeled wine bottles. Filled with the appropatly collored water and corked, filling the wine rack in the kitchen for a great display. Also how about resal on the boiler equipment. Offered with buyerr removal could bring in a couple of quid!
The kitchen chimney breast and stonework looks amazing! This room is rolling along on well-oiled wheels thanks to your team. It's wonderful to see the progress. Just remember that there may be construction codes to follow in regards to how far an electrical panel has to be from a water splash zone or open fire. As what you showed in the corner of the panel might not work. My father was an electrical consultant on many builds, including industrial, commercial and residential kitchens and that was one of his pet peeves with architects placing dangerous structures by a panel. No matter that there is a door closing the circuits in, water can still seep in and it only takes one time to ruin a project such as yours. Consult Duncan and get his professional feedback before you install those 2 items.
Well, the kitchen is coming along very well. That is some basement at the convent. The building was made to last several lifetimes! What would you do without Sean? He is a God send for this huge project.
Thank you Billy for the basement tour. I thought it was a cool space and with proper lighting could make a nice wine cellar like Edd & Anna did with their place. I liked the old beams they stored there and super cool wine racks.
Absolutely beautiful stone work. The small room with the thick shelves maybe was used for "cold storage", and is across from the "wine cellar ". I'd leave the shelves but clean them up for modern use for the kitchen. There's value in maintaining the vintage construction where possible.
Great to view the basement, seeing it as it was probably used a lot everyday to fetch food and wine. The Kitchen is coming on very nicely, as its now a private kitchen for personal use only for people staying or living in the convent, you can make it practical but old historically. Thanks Billy and Sean, well dine 💕🇦🇺
I'd do a rough draft floor plan of the kitchen and perhaps the hall and side rooms on paper, and layout out what lighting you want and where you want it, and all the plugs just to give yourself something to look at so you don't forget anything. Seen so many times people don't layout remodeling electrical and then when they get done they've forgotten a spot even though the electrician did what they were told to install. Can't wait to see both the Kitchen and Hall finished. That hall done right would be a grand main entrance.
Thank you for letting us see the basement i would not want to be shut in down there great idea about bringing the large wine rack into the kitchen hope you find the key to the lock and definitely try to do something with the large boulders great find
Thank you for the look in the basement, I wouldn’t want to go down there alone.👻 The old wine cages are fabulous! Billy, I like your idea of putting one in the kitchen. It would be perfect if you could find the key to that lock, check your stash of keys because that would have been an important key to have. 🍷
The basement doesn't look bad at all. A couple days cleaning and it'll be tip top. The kitchen is coming along nicely. I still remember when you jack-hammered the fireplace for the first time. What a difference now! Thanks for sharing your day. I think you're doing a great job and I love watching all your episodes. 😀
Progress, progress, progress! Wow Billy, that bldg is absolutely amazing! I look forward to seeing your videos every day! It is going to be an awesome property by the time you are finished. Such a pleasure to watch.
How fun this was. Of course I was watching during the day. But great finds, those wide planks who the things you can do with them, an nice working island, shelves mantel shelf to adorn great convent finds. LOL But those wine cages, would be heavenly in the kitchen after finished up. Thanks Billy, you are so knowledgeable on the ins and outs of the convent. That is a wealth of knowledge.
If your having a massive kitchen like that , you need a much bigger sink than one that fits in front of that little space under window. Especially if that kitchen will be rented out for events or used for large entertainment. Hugs from NY
Billy a cute little table by that window for when you guys eat lunch or have a cup of tea, enjoy an afternoon brew, sit and edit video, things like that and you’d have a great view is also an idea if you wanted to make the kitchen more central or spread out. So many great options with this space.
Thanks so much Billy for a quick tour of the basement. I'm sure without the lights and all those wall and rooms, it can be quite a different environment. And it was good to have Sean down there with you too! I would love to see if you clean up the wine holder...that would make a great addition in the new kitchen! Thanks again!
Sean is a gem ! Billy, I’m glad no ghosties bothered you while you explored the basement ! You should get your wine cages sandblasted prior to restoring !
Nice job on the framing Sean. The basement is really a cool place to be literally. You should have more then one sink and stove and refrigerator and freezer. In a place that big there might be more then one cook? The room is really massive. It's really looking great.
Yes ! to more than one stove, refrigerator, freezer and sinks…cooking and baking for alarge family or guests for dinner, especially for holidays requires 2 stoves, one for the turkey/ham, beef roast and one for baking the rolls, pies, cakes etc. and extra refrigerator space..just because. oh and extra freezers for food storage I am thinking like an american , about food storage, In the past few years we have seen empty storeshelves, power outages, wild storms, food supply chain interruptions 🇺🇸
I'm so happy that you're moving the plans for the kitchen sink, I feel as though the fire place should be a stand alone feature in the kitchen. Are you planning on covering the dual heating and cooling unit with like a slotted door cabinet or perhaps a old fashioned bread cabinet? So exciting seeing the kitchen come together 🦀 thanks for the video Billy
Hi Billy , not sure what you are thinking for a kitchen layout but running the workings of the kitchen ( sink - stove - refrigerator etc. ) along most of the length of the wall in the room with a very big straight Island or 2 smaller islands running 4 or 5 feet parallel in distance from all the workings is something I keep imagining the space to look like. Would you ever consider showing us a drawing of what you are planning for a kitchen layout?
Have you thought about getting a local chef (or two) to give you advice on the kitchen layout - they know from experience how a space that large can be best utilised.
You know, what struck me with this video is that you and Sean appreciate and want to keep the strength and beauty of the old construction, while improving the rest with modern techniques and equipment. It makes me feel almost as if you're working with the original craftsmen who built the place; their work is respected, and you show them how things can be improved now, with the two styles complementing each other. Any spirits there will be happy with you, Billy! 💖 The ionizer and filters will make that kitchen a joy to work in, especially for people with allergies! Love the basement tour, especially all the racks for all the wine! That locked one at the base of the stairs is beautiful; glad, as always, you're going to use it. Have a good night, you two, and see you tomorrow. 😊
Thank you for showing us the basement and potential for future works. Make a wine cellar in part of it. White wash the wash the walls to brighten up the basement. If you have plans to install a bar in the kitchen or in another room, use the basement for a keg room.
Wonderful to see some light shed on the basement. The wooden shelving (body length as you described Billy) was probably used for storing root vegetables. I.E. potatoes MUST be stored without light because they will turn green in color which makes them poisonous. Mushrooms are another food item kept out of sunlight for growth purposes. So I am pretty sure the shelving was for food storage. Wine rack had to have a lock because the wine was used for communion. The kitchen is too big to worry about the triangle effect. You can put in "prep" sinks or beverage sinks to create several triangle effects within the kitchen space. Thanks for the "reveal". Tons of fun to explore with you.
The joists and beams are unbelievable. You’d never find wood like that now. Priceless. Amazing isn’t it. They used to build with care and it was meant to withstand passing of time.
My suggestion would be to make sure that if you recess the sink in the window area to make sure you have plenty of counter space. I would like to think counter space on both sides but absolutely on one side. Agree that one sink might not be enough. Billy, while the triangle may be nonsense everything should be within a reasonable distance of each other. No one wants to walk 5 feet, oops 1.5 meters between sink, fridge and stove. The wine racks are great. And in my imagination, I can see the housekeeping nun with the keys in hand and her habit swishing walking down the stairs to get a bottle of wine for the visiting abbot, or visitor. Was a little surprised at 2:08 to see the beams join above the post aren't notched any deeper. Obviously, they are doing the work intended. Loved seeing Sean with his new toy.
Hey Billy, have you considered adding more than one sink into the kitchen? It is a massive space, and even in a pretty small kitchen a second sink can be helpful, especially if you have more than one person cooking or need a place to be able to soak dishes with stuck on food, but still want to be able to easily do prep work or other regular kitchen functions. Some of my family used to have a house with 3 sinks in their kitchen and when I worked in there it was a blessing, especially during holidays and parties when you had lots of things going on and many dishes being prepared. I know it's a bit harder to do multiples sinks without a permanent kitchen island, but maybe in more than one window bay? Also, installing a pot filler faucet behind the range/stove is extremely useful.
Billy if you can it is awesome idea to make your wall plugs have USB chargers in them to! Plus a couple of Ethernet sockets is never a bad idea even if you do have wireless. EVERYTHING seems to have a USB plug these days!
A nice proper wine cellar that keeps wine at probably a nice temperature! Keep that fridge in shape in the floor, with the uncertainty of electricity, it’s always nice to have a back-up!
Thanks for showing the basement! One of the things I love most about being an electrician is getting into those creepy dark places and exploring. Getting into old church basements is one of my favorite spots. You never know what you might find.
I am soo glad that Billy will be following your farmhouse renovation project. It will be fascinating to follow. I love all the old building and architecture features. Thank you for including us in your French adventure project.
Hey Billy, and loyal Sean popping up in the basement like Dobby the house elf . I've designed literally 1000s of kitchens and the big ones are hardest to agree on a layout as there too many options, I'm sure it will come together once you know where the sink and cooker are going.
Those lights definitely help make it less spooky, as does having Sean there. Thanks for giving us the tour. Amazing to see the huge beams and thick walls. Great video
Those first shelves looked like winter storage for the squash, cabbage, carrots (etc) that the nuns grew. That small room with the thick oak shelves looked like a cheese cellar.
Hi there !! The massive beams on the floor cellar, could be sawed up to fine oak planks, unless they are damaged, or rotten. So lift them up and check. Always good to have some oakplank as a reserve....As for the oak shelves near the wine racks.....
Down the road, the basement will be a real gem, iove the caged 'wine rack' will keep an eye out for how you repurpose it. Great tour you two, thanks from Canada.
Took me back to the farm I grew up on when you mentioned the fire suppression system. The machinery used to dry the grain was oil fired and I remember that while it did not have an extinguisher, it did have an oil cut off that work along the same lines. Two plates soldered together and if the heat became too much then those plates would separate and allow a weighted tap to fall and shut the supply of fuel off.
Not so spooky in the basement! I like Sean's suggestion of making a huge table for the kitchen out of the old oak boards......custom and beautiful! The wine store with the doors is brilliant and would really shine with a sand blasting and repaint....or just a good clean and oiling! Great finds in the depths of the convent! Cheers!
