French Farmhouse Renovation: Benji Lewis’s 18th Century Home Restoration

Outside, the farmhouse was nearly obscured by the sprawling undergrowth that began to climb the back walls of the house.

Inside, trees grew through the kitchen floor and rainwater seeped through the roof, rotting the original wood and causing moisture.

Benji had been in France for the past 23 years, moving for his partner’s job from Bordeaux to Les Landes, inland from Biarritz in the southwestern corner of France.

The house had caught Benji’s attention six months earlier, but to his dismay, he’d been told it had already been sold. Now the broker happened to bring it back on a bleak February day in 2016 – the sale, it turned out, hadn’t gone through.

“It was in a really bad shape,” Benji says. “What appealed to me about the property was that even on a dark February day, once the shutters had been opened and the light had gone in, you just went: woah! This light just went from front to back through the house.”

A four up, four down with a barn on each side, the property is bisected by a corridor that runs from the front to the back of the house. “I like the simplicity of this house. It’s an uncomplicated structure and I really liked that,” says Benji.

The house, called Maison Noe – meaning place of safety or shelter – was built in 1806 and has been owned by the same family ever since. The owner, who lived in Paris, had left the house empty; when she died, the family decided to sell. After viewing it, Benji made an offer on the house and the sale went quickly.

Benji had done his job. Was he afraid to take it? “No. The point of buying an old French house is that the charm is in its decay,” says Benji. “It’s not for the faint of heart.”

Benji’s first point of contact was to repair the roof in the main building. He then had the cement facade of the house stripped, leaving the bricks exposed, with a plaster yet to be redone.

“If you want a healthy home, as I like to call it, you need to get rid of the flashing cement,” says Benji.

“Old houses react incredibly poorly to cement because it traps moisture. Once moisture is trapped in old stone, as the temperature drops and it freezes, the stone cannot breathe and cracks a little. It ages very quickly and rots.”

Benji’s plan, once he gets approval from the town hall, is the application of a soft, lime-based mortar to the interior and exterior walls to allow the stone to breathe. Although the property’s old wooden windows have suffered, Benji plans to save them by insulating them with hemp.

“My goal with the property is to end up with a healthy old house. I don’t want to lose the character of the property or live in a museum, but I also like the idea of ​​restoring elements and materials that would have been used in the construction of the house.”

In the kitchen, for example, Benji replaced the white porcelain floor tiles from the 1970s with reclaimed 18^e century terracotta, excavating and rebuilding the floor with pebbles, airstones, slate tiles and new pipework to remove the moisture.

“There would have been a floor like this in the house, but it had all been replaced,” says Benji. “The tiles are terribly beautiful, but they’re not original to the house…it’s all storytelling.”

Restoring the house is a time-consuming – and expensive – process, with Benji looking to find the right people to do the work and to hire craftsmen. Since purchasing the house six years ago, Benji expects it could take another two years to complete.

“The interior is beautiful – it’s certainly nicely decorated – but I still have a lot of work to do,” says Benji. This is not surprising: as an interior designer who started his own company in 2003 Benji also provides online interior advice, via Zoom That Room.

Inside, he says the house has an “eclectic, timeless” decor. “I don’t want to get stuck in a time capsule where I live in a museum and the furnishings are all authentic to the period of the property, because I love the mid-century; I like contemporary; I like 18^e century,” says Benji.

“It’s a cocktail of all kinds of things that I enjoy. I decorate the way I like it.”

Benji’s furniture usually comes from local flea markets; being close to the Spanish border, it can cast a wider net of old French, Spanish and Basque objects.

His treasures include blue Basque chairs from a West Coast junk shop; a pink cardboard column decorated with white flowers and two large Indian fabrics occupying an entire wall of his sitting room, with colorful birds perched on the blue branches of a tree. “I like such big, decorative statements.”

Opposite, in the dining room, is an attractive, orange-painted Spanish sideboard, topped with vintage champagne glasses. “I don’t really drink alcohol, but I love old champagne coupes — the ones they say are based on Marie Antoinette’s left breast. I try to buy crystal glass — I love that,” says Benji.

He adds: “I like things that tell a story. I buy things that remind me of good times – if I have a friend who stays and we have a good time or enjoy life and we go to a junk store, I’ll probably buy something to remind me.”

Benji’s favorite room in the house is the rustic terracotta-tiled kitchen, with its wood-beamed ceiling, dark wood table and sideboard (complete with more glass) and door to the garden. It makes, he says, a perfect space to dance with his three dogs, the music booms. “It feels like a really good space to be.”

With his partner David and dogs, Benji splits his time between Maison Noe and his home in Berkshire, where he works on projects in both the UK and France. This has become increasingly complicated since Brexit, as a UK resident can only spend 90 days in France at a time.

“I don’t like being denied access to my own home,” Benji says. “I really don’t like being out of the house for three months.” And we are not surprised with a house like Maison Noe.

@benjilewisinteriors

Benji’s top tips for interiors:

After advising more than 100 people about their interiors during lockdown, here are some of the most common problems – and Benji’s tips for perfecting the decor of any home.

Relief

During the lockdown, one of the most common questions Benji received during his Zoom That Room sessions was how to create a comfortable workspace from home. Lighting, he emphasizes, is key.

“Position your desk so that it has natural light — you don’t want to sit with the light behind you,” says Benji. “If that’s not possible, [try] to get two desk lamps in your workplace, one on the left and one on the right.”

This brings beams of light onto your desk so you can see well. Which brings us to the next point:

chairs

“Comfort is key,” says Benji. An ergonomic arrangement is important, so look for a chair with good back and arm support and place your desk at the right height.

Measure your space

If you are looking for furniture, know what your available space is. Measure the space before you leave, bring a tape measure and know exactly what you’re looking for before you leave the house. There’s no point in buying a huge sofa if it’s too big for your living room.

Acquire wisely

When shopping at flea markets, Benji has a clear idea of ​​what he is looking for. “I go with a purpose – I know what I’m looking for. Go for that approach – don’t just say ‘that’s enough’. That’s hopeless,” he says.

Buy according to the way you live

Choose furniture that fits your lifestyle, says Benji. In short, if you don’t see yourself arranging and filling cushions, don’t buy a sofa with a thousand cushions.

Buy according to your needs and preferences – and choose furniture that fits your way of life.

Think outside the box

If you’re short on space, get creative. For example, instead of a coffee table, Benji recommends an upholstered ottoman, which can serve as an extra seat – or can be used with a tray on top as a hard surface for drinks.