MONDAY Villeréal, the village of a thousand souls where I live and work, is a typical pretty bastide with a rectangular grid of streets and alleys, and a small market square and its lofty church dominating the centre of the old town. One thing it lacks though is a green open space to stroll of an evening, or to briskly walk the dog. In short, it lacks a park. This has been bugging me
since my election to the Conseil Municipal in the spring, and I think I’ve come up with a solution. I’ve identifi ed a parcel of land behind the pétanque club, about two hundred metres by fi fty, with views across open fi elds to the little River Dropt beyond. It belongs to one of the local bakers and forms part of a larger fi eld whose only current inhabitant is a donkey called Caramel.
Wedne day
Architect’s diary It’s all in a week’s work for France-based Neil Vesma I had put this idea to Jean-
Jacques, the mayor, who was all for it and had promised to speak to the baker and his wife over the weekend. I ring him to see how he got on. He tells me that the baker
was given the land by his dad Emile, who is now in his nineties, and wouldn’t want to dispose of it while he’s still alive. At fi rst I’m disappointed but then I say “c’est encourageant, non?” because the baker has said yes, just not yet. Had Jean-Jacques said we only wanted part of his land? No he hadn’t, so I off er to prepare a plan showing what we would like to do and where we would like to do it. He gives me the green light and says he’ll invite them to the mairie later this week.
The perfect roof terrace for sunsets Wedne day
TUESDAY Off out to a potential job this morning for an American in Italy and his disabled wife who have bought a country house just 15km from my offi ce. She needs daily exercise in a pool, so they’ve asked me to see if I can adapt the indoor pool
T ursday
The sketch for the new park in Villeréal
on site into an indoor-outdoor one that is also a convivial family space for them and their three daughters. When I get there I’m
disappointed to fi nd out that the clients haven’t been able to fl y in due to health problems, so I am actually meeting two Italian project managers and a builder from Nice. I’m somewhat taken aback as a builder who is eight hours away is useless when snags occur,
and (polite version follows) if I’m managing a project, I don’t need two other people’s input. I’m a big boy now and building work needs a clear, simple chain of command: client, architect, builder. I am a very polite architect
and we spend not a little time before I leave discussing the technical problems an indoor- outdoor pool raises, especially how can you close off the indoor part both above and below water when the outdoor temperature is –10 degrees. I’m fuming about the waste
of time when I get back and tell Charlotte, my glamorous practice manager, that it would be cheaper and better just to build another pool outdoors and anyway I can’t and won’t work with people peering over my shoulder all the time. In her usual annoyingly
sensible way, she calms me down and suggests I call the client and talk through the issues and see what he has to say. So I take several deep breaths and dial the number. He’s delightful and
One of Neil’s fondly remembered projects, a manor house with an infi nity pool 66 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: January/February 2024
charming, apologises for not being able to come over and says I come highly recommended, he needs someone local who knows the ropes and he’d like that someone to be me. The job will
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