Summer didn’t go quite as planned.

A co-stewardship & multigenerational living post

My family just returned from a trip to the Aveyron department of France, where we spent two weeks in the tiny old farmhouse we bought with friends. Despite the small size of the house, all nine of us aim to be there together, rather than spacing out our visits like parties in a timeshare would. While there, we catch up on life, fall behind on sleep, determine the restoration work that is needed to maintain and improve the house, prep and clean up after shared meals, and play with the four little ones in our group.

With so many people and just two bedrooms, one of our projects leading up to this summer was to convert the old boiler room beneath the residence into a compact, third bedroom. While the room has no interior access to the rest of the home and is only reachable via a garden path, it’s a lovely little space with a view of the countryside, an arched ceiling, and a windowed wooden door that was recently converted into a Dutch Door. 

The “new” third bedroom had a few glorious weeks of being ready to decorate and enjoy before things went awry.