These clients engaged me to research a variety of French ski resorts near to Geneva airport and identify opportunities for them to invest – they were open to renovation or new build. I completed the research in six weeks and presented them with a report showing a range of investment opportunities. They chose two projects – a land purchase with construction of three new chalets in Samoëns (summarised in project 21) plus this farmhouse renovation project. As part of my role, I represented the client and negotiated with the estate agent, and I recommended a suspensive clause in the purchase contract for obtaining planning permission so that my clients were protected if the permission was refused. Over my 14 years in the French Alps, 70% of my clients lived overseas and I worked hard to communicate well and to build confidence and trust which led to opportunities such as this one. The clients went on to appoint me as designer for all their projects and once the designs were finalised, I collaborated with a local architect to submit the planning applications. The clients had a dream to create an extremely luxurious holiday home and fell in love with this derelict farmhouse that is just steps from the ski lift. The building was two farmhouses joined together and dated back to 1749. As is the case with many of my clients, the husband and wife had slightly different visions of what they wanted the chalet to be! She preferred a more rustic and traditional feel whilst he envisioned something more contemporary, which presented me with the challenge of reconciling the two styles. In addition, the local mairie (council) were particularly interested in this property as other recent local farmhouse renovation designs had lost the integrity of the traditional Savoyard architecture. The intention was to preserve as much of the original structure as possible – the timber frame and the stone base. The structure was complex, and nothing was straight thus surveying and measuring it using traditional methods was impossible, so I commissioned a 3D scan of the building to create the 3D model with which to commence my design. My design merged traditional materials such as stone, wooden cladding and beams, and slate roof tiles with large picture windows and fixed glass panels, exposed steel internal structure, and glass sky walkway, as we called it. The clients have four children of mixed ages and so I created recreational spaces to meet their needs – cinema room, gym, indoor swimming pool – as well as a complete top floor suite for the parents to escape to. It encompassed an enormous bedroom with walk-in dressing room and ensuite bathroom and inset ‘St Tropez’ roof terraces to take in both the east and west views. The family spaces include 180m² split level, open plan living area, kitchen, dining room, and 12m high new open entrance hall. The clients were delighted with the design and the planning permission was approved and they went on to commission me to design a swimming pool and pool house on land adjacent to the barn (see Project 06).