A Dictionary of French Building Terms

256 pages. 2006.

This essential dictionary and phrase book provides every term you need to know when buying, maintaining, renovating or building a home in France. Accessible and comprehensive, it includes the technical words you won't find in an ordinary dictionary for tools and equipment and every aspect of painting, carpentry, roofing, plumbing and drainage.

A French Restoration

222 pages. 2006.

This work is a charming and informative account of renovating a property in France. When you fall in love common sense flies out of the window. This is how it was for David and Doris Johnson when they found a down-at-heel mini chateau in the heartland of France. A three year restoration began - and with it a journey of discovery. French property expert Clive Kristen was drawn to the subject immediately. This is the amusing and instructional story of the Johnson's restoration, written to help others wanting to embark on their own French renovation.

Bon Courage: A French Renovation

320 pages. 2003.

A dilapidated, rat-infested stone barn set amidst thirteen acres of overgrown woodland and unkempt pasture might not be many people's vision of a potential dream home. But for English couple Richard and his wife Al, the cavernous, oak-beamed building in a sleepy hamlet of the Limousin region of France is perfect. Tussles with French bureaucracy allied with fierce storms that wreak havoc on the property do little to dampen resolve as they immerse themselves in the "calme" of this quiet corner of France, taking trips in Richard's balloon and starting their very own llama farm.

Buying and Renovating a Property in France

The Daily Telegraph, 2007

This book contains 3 parts. Part One - the buying process - emphasizes the verification of the materials used in the property under consideration. For example, if a property is advertised as 'genuine 18th century' you can make sure that this is the case. Part Two - the 'bricks and mortar' part of the book - is designed to provide you with sufficient knowledge of French building methods and materials for you to understand estimates and evaluate what work should be done, and by whom. Part Three is designed to cut your costs wherever possible.

Create a Mediterranean Garden

Pattie Barron. 160 pages. 1999.

This book demonstrates planting strategies for all climates. Gardeners should learn how to adapt the soil to suit specific needs and quickly create a lavish Mediterranean garden of their own. Many of the plants appropriate to a true Mediterranean garden are easy to locate and breathtakingly gorgeous within the context of a wide variety of soils and climates. Mediterranean gardens are highly practical as well as lush and beautiful. The plants are accustomed to living in the desert-like climate that exists on the shores and islands in and around the Mediterranean Sea.

Creating the French Look

Annie Sloan. 160 pages. 2011.

The French interior evokes a way of life to aspire to, with its good food,unhurried pace and, above all, its past for which many people feel nostalgia.Developed over hundreds of years, the French look reflects all tastes, from the cultivated grandeur of the chateau to the simplicity of rural living, and can be adapted to every home, including the Mediterranean style villa and elegant town house. In this book, the look is divided into 'Chateau', 'Country', 'Provencial' and 'Parisian style', and applied to living room, kitchen and dining room, bedroom and bathroom, and to living space in the garden.

Decorating in the French Style

Jacques Garcia. 264 pages. 2005.

A thirty-year career has made Jacques Garcia a worldwide name in interior design in the French tradition. In Paris, chic crowds flock to his celebrated Hétel Costes and Ladurée tearoom, and to his many fin-de-siécle brasseries. Garcia's designs also grace the interiors of the Musée Carnavalet and the Musée de la Vie Romantique-and his most recent tour de force is the restoration of Paris' Hétel Mansart. This new edition of the 1999 book is a continuing tribute to the restoration of the chéteau and to its magnificent garderns, seen here for the first time.

Mediterranean Style

Catherine Haig. 144 pages. 1998.

Vivid colors, bold simplicity, textural contrasts, stone, tile, and stucco--these are the hallmarks of this refreshingly unpretentious style, which is easy to live with and surprisingly simple to evoke at home. Vibrant photos and detailed, practical text explore all the elements of the look and explain what to do with your own walls, etc.

Provence Style: The Art of Home Decoration

Noëlle Duck. 188 pages. 2002.

Provencal houses are true homes. Warm shades of ochre glow from the walls and roofs, weathered floors shine, and reflections dance off glazed ceramics hitting cotton tablecloths. The region of Provence has always produced the right materials for building, painting, furnishing and decorating its homes, and for over two thousand years, local artists have worked to create the authentic Provencal style which reflects their unique way of life. This colorful book explores the world of the local craftsmen and decorators, pinpointing the essential characteristics of any authentic Provencal house.

Romantic French Homes

Lanie Goodman. 176 pages. 2013.

A unique collection of timeless French houses featuring original photography make this a book to treasure. From a chic and sophisticated Parisian pied-a-terre owned by an acclaimed musician to an authentically restored Alpine ski lodge, from a grand chateau filled with antiques collected by generations of the same family to writer Marcel Pagnol's beach cottage in St Tropez, Romantic French Homes presents a stunning selection of homes, most of which have never been photographed before.

The French Country Garden

Louisa Jones. 176 pages. 2005.

Louisa Jones's lectures, articles and books are a synonym for style in the world of contemporary gardens and gardening. Her many books include Gardens of Provence, Kitchen Gardens of France and Saveurs du Potager. Gilles Le Scanff and Joelle Mayer have been photographing gardens for more than twenty years for books and magazines such as Mon Jardin, Mon Maison. "'Stunning... a beautiful and sensuous book' - Irish Homes"

The Mediterranean Gardener

Hugo Latymer. 160 pages. 2001.

Hugo Latymer reveals the rich diversity of trees, shrubs, flowering plants and cacti that flourish in regions where summers are hot and dry, winters mild and wet. His knowledge and enthusiasm are communicated in descriptions of more than 300 plants, most of them readily obtainable: Chinaberry trees with fragrant lilac flowers in spring, dark green twisted carobs, beautiful red-flowered climbing lilies. Many of the subjects are illustrated in superb colour photographs. Coded information at the head of each entry enables gardeners to make the best choices when confronted with the bewildering array of plants on offer.