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80 %
Last replied
13 Oct 2025
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Description
My partner, Melissa and I have been hosting since 2012 and so far have met a wonderful group of people through workaway. Lately however, we haven't been hosting due to work commitments, however this summer we are planning to work on the house from beginning of July to mid-September.
My project is to restore an old French farm house using original materials or recreating the original materials whenever possible. I can teach you about lime, wood working, clay and lime plaster, and stone work.
The next projects I'll be focusing on are finishing the interior of an upstairs room (build a floor, wiring, plastering etc) and working outside on stone wall repair, plaster repair and landscaping the outside gardens. We are also interested in reviving a composting toilet and camping site. We have a swimming lake a mile away and a Saturday marché in the town adjacent.
We have three cats who live in the house and plenty of room for creativity on the land. There is a farm next door and many lovely walks, by foot. It can be isolating without a car, but not impossible. Alpine lakes, serious hiking trails, and quieter ridge walks are all within reach — we're well placed for anyone who loves the outdoors.
Many people who come do music, drawing, or other types of art and I've lots of space for that. If you'd like to come I suggest that you consider coming for a week and we see how it goes, if we all like each other at the end of the week then usually you are welcome to stay longer although sometimes, depending on my schedule, we have to leave for work.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
House & pet sitting
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Few places offer the kind of hands-on traditional building knowledge that is quietly disappearing from the world. Working alongside us, you'll gain practical skills in lime mortar and lime plaster, clay work, stone wall construction and repair, and timber work — techniques that predate industrial construction by centuries and are experiencing a genuine revival among those building sustainably. You'll leave knowing how to read an old wall, what materials belong in it, and why.
Beyond the building skills, daily life here is an immersion in rural French culture. Shopping at village markets, cooking with seasonal regional ingredients, and simply slowing down to the rhythm of the French countryside.
There's also something less tangible but genuinely valuable: the experience of working with your hands toward something lasting. Restoring a farmhouse using original materials is an act of conservation as much as construction. Helpers who have come through have often described it as one of the more meaningful things they've done — not because it was dramatic, but because it was real.
For those drawn to sustainable living, the composting toilet project and the land itself offer hands-on windows into low-impact rural life in Europe — a quieter, more intentional way of being that this corner of southwest France naturally encourages.
This is also a place that tends to attract artists, musicians, writers, environmentalists, and makers of all kinds — people who want to do something meaningful with their hands and their time, in a landscape that genuinely inspires.This corner of southwest France has its own agricultural traditions, food culture, and relationship to landscape that reward curiosity.
Help
We are slowly restoring an old French farmhouse using traditional materials — lime, stone, clay, and timber — and in doing so creating something we hope will serve a larger purpose over time. This summer's work focuses on completing an upstairs room and outdoor stone and plaster repair, alongside developing a composting toilet and small camping area on the land.
But beyond the building, what we are working toward is a place where creative people can genuinely thrive — somewhere a painter can set up outside, a musician can play without worrying about neighbours, a writer can find the quiet they need, or an environmentalist can think deeply. The rhythm of the days naturally supports this — physical work in the mornings, space for creative practice in the late afternoons and evenings.
To make all of this work, we need helpers who understand that a functioning household is the foundation everything else rests on. We don't have time to shop and cook for everyone, so participation in daily domestic life — cooking, shopping, and cleaning — is as much a part of the placement as the building work itself. In practice this is often one of the most enjoyable parts; cooking together with market ingredients, sharing a meal after a long physical day, and contributing to a shared home rather than passing through one.
Each person who comes — with their skills, their energy, their cooking, their music, their conversation — becomes part of what this place is becoming.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
Accommodation
Depending on who is around, there is either an own room or a private space with bed and table in house with shared facilities. Flexibility is key as we wont know very much in advance who is going to be where. Still, you wont have to share a room with anyone, in either case it will be private.
What else ...
Three airports serve the region: Toulouse-Blagnac, Pau, and Lourdes — all reasonably accessible and well connected to major European cities. The nearest train station is Lannemezan, which links to the broader French rail network. Many visitors use covoiturage (ride-sharing) to bridge the last stretch, and it works well in this part of France.
Once here, having a car makes life easier, but it isn't essential. For those without one, the farm, the lake, the walks, and the local markets are all manageable on foot or with a little planning.
The house has wifi.
Toulouse is just over an hour from Lannemezan by train — and it's a genuinely wonderful city. One of France's most vibrant, it has a large student population, multiple universities, a lively arts and music scene, excellent food, and the particular warmth of a southern French city that doesn't take itself too seriously.
For helpers who stay a while and find themselves wanting a change of pace — a few days of museums, cafés, live music, and city streets — we have an apartment in Toulouse that may be available. It's not guaranteed, but for the right person who's settled in well and fancies a short urban break, it's something we're happy to discuss.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
My animals / pets
Bear
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