Renovating a 17th century barn and trying to keep its original spirit looking for advice
I moved to France about 7 months ago, partly because I had done an academic exchange here when I was 20 and completely fell in love with the old buildings, the stone, the atmosphere… it just stayed in the back of my mind for years
Fast forward to now, I ended up buying an old barn that dates back to the 17th century
The place still has its original timber beams, massive ones, slightly uneven, full of marks and history. You can really feel the age of the building when you walk in, and that’s exactly what I don’t want to lose
The idea is to turn it into a home, but without stripping away that original character. I’m trying to avoid the “over-renovated” look where everything becomes too clean, too straight, too modern
At the same time, I know I have to make it livable. Insulation, heating, structure, layout… there are things I can’t ignore
I’m finding it harder than expected to strike the right balance between preserving what’s there and adapting it to modern life
For those who’ve worked on old buildings like this, how did you approach it
Are there things you regret changing or removing
Or things you’re really glad you modernized early on
And for the beams specifically, did you restore them, leave them raw, reinforce them, or integrate them into something more contemporary
Would really appreciate any advice before I go too far in one direction.