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# Home tour: a farmhouse kitchen in Normandy
- URL: https://haven.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/home-tour-a-farmhouse-kitchen-in-normandy/
- Published: 2026-07-21T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-21T09:00:00.000Z
- Description: A stone floor, a rebuilt range, a pantry that stays cold and a table nobody could move.
- Author: Sofia Marin
- Tags: Home tours, Kitchens, #tour, #where Normandy, France, #size 160 m², #budget €9,000, #style Old stone, new life, #Import 2026-10-02 16:14

Claire and Antoine bought a farmhouse in Normandy with a kitchen that had not changed since 1962\. They kept the stone floor, the old range and the long table, and changed almost everything else, over three years and on a tight budget.

## The heart of the house

In a French farmhouse, the kitchen is the main room. It is where people eat, talk, work and dry their coats. Claire and Antoine's kitchen is seven metres long, with a stone floor, thick walls and two small windows facing the orchard.

![The oak table came with the house. They have no idea how old it is.](https://haven.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/content/images/2026/10/nor-table.jpg)

The oak table came with the house. They have no idea how old it is.

The table was left by the previous owners, too heavy to move. It seats twelve, and on most weekends it does.

## The range

The old range had not worked for twenty years. A local engineer rebuilt it over two weekends, and it now heats the kitchen and the water as well as cooking. In summer, they cook on a small modern hob next to it.

![The rebuilt range, which heats the room from October to April.](https://haven.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/content/images/2026/10/nor-range.jpg)

The rebuilt range, which heats the room from October to April.

> We wanted a kitchen that felt like it had always been there. The best way was to keep what had.  
>  
> **Claire**

## The pantry

A small room off the kitchen, once used for milk and cheese, is now a pantry. It stays cool all year, because it faces north and has stone walls half a metre thick. Shelves hold jars of preserves from the garden, flour, wine and the apple brandy their neighbour makes.

![The old dairy, now a pantry. It never gets warmer than fourteen degrees.](https://haven.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/content/images/2026/10/nor-pantry.jpg)

The old dairy, now a pantry. It never gets warmer than fourteen degrees.

## The colours

- #E9E1D2 Chalk — the walls, in limewash
- #6B7B5E Orchard — the cupboard doors
- #A9643F Brick — the floor, as it was
- #3E3A34 Iron — the range and the light fittings

## The garden

The kitchen door opens straight onto the vegetable garden. Antoine grows enough tomatoes, beans and courgettes for the summer, and the old orchard gives more apples than they can use.

![The vegetable garden, ten steps from the kitchen door.](https://haven.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/content/images/2026/10/nor-garden.jpg)

The vegetable garden, ten steps from the kitchen door.

## What it cost

The whole kitchen cost about €9,000, most of it spent on the range, the wiring and the plumbing. The cupboards are old, painted by hand. The worktops are oak boards from a local sawmill.

🔧

Their tip: in an old house, spend on what you cannot see first. Wiring, water and damp before paint and handles.

#### Is the floor original?

Yes. They cleaned it with soap and water and sealed it with linseed oil.

#### Do they live there all year?

Yes. Antoine works from a desk in the attic; Claire teaches in the village.