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 31st July 2010
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- FrenchEntrée
 Becoming a Furniture Maker in Rural Languedoc-RoussillonAnton Greefhorst, from The Netherlands, shares his story Bespoke furniture maker Anton Greefhorst, originally from The Netherlands, started his love affair with rural France over 18 years ago. He now lives in a small village south of Carcassonne in the Aude department of Languedoc-Roussillon. Here he shares his story of how he came to be living there, what changes he has observed over the years, and how he made the transition from accounts consultancy to furniture making. FE: So, let's start with when and how you came to be living here in the Languedoc? Anton: About 18 years ago our daughter was born. And yes it did change our lives. For instance the holidays we used to take cycling in France from campsite to campsite became renting a holiday home instead. For a few seasons we rented a small holiday house in the Ardèche and we loved it. One morning the owner passed by and told us it was for sale, we did not hesitate, and that same afternoon we bought it! That was the beginning of the end of my business career! We found ourselves spending more and more time in our little house in France; we walked, worked in the garden, chopped wood or tasted wine. Little by little I realised that living in the French countryside was far more attractive then sitting in my office in front of my PC in Rotterdam. It took about two years to take the decision that our future would lie in France. And consequently, that our little holiday home ought to be replaced by the old isolated authentic farm next to the small brook you see in the glossy magazines. But where would we find it? We bought a copy of 'La Méteo de la France' and analysed hundreds of tables and graphs about sun, wind, rain and snow. We also analysed house prices and finally decided we wanted to live in the Languedoc-Roussillon. After that it was simple. Via Minitel (the French Internet of the past) we would look for houses in a certain area and then we would stay there a few days to visit them. We must have visited about 100 houses, and then we found it - Domaine Barot in Villelongue d'Aude. It had not been inhabited for about 50 years; there was no no toilet, no bathroom, no electricity, no nothing. There was only one sink with a tap! It did not matter, it was love at first sight and we bought it.   FE: What do you enjoy most about living in the Languedoc-Roussillon, and is there anything that you find frustrating? Anton: In the Aude department of the region there about 350,000 people living in an area of 6140 km?. That makes quite a difference. It is quiet, there is space and there is still lots of nature left. Furthermore, thanks to the climate you can enjoy that nature the whole year around, spend time by the sea or in the mountains or just the vineyards and woods around the small villages. However, a nice environment does not guarantee good living. You need more, you also need nice people and that is not a problem either. During the past 20 – 30 years a lot of "strangers" (foreigners and French people from the North) have arrived here looking for a new life. In general, I find them to be open, informal, hearty, in short, nice people. Thanks to them living here has become rather like one long party! The only downside is that sometimes the party is spoiled by French government bureaucracy or those big French companies (banks, ISP's, telephone companies)! They do not answer the telephone, they do not answer your letters and often it is not quite clear what they want, why they want it and how they want it. That can be very frustrating! FE: Have you noticed a lot of change for better or worse since living in rural France? Anton: I'm not an anthropologist, I'm not even an amateur anthropologist! However, I think that you can see three distinct groups here in the countryside. Those three groups are all living their own lives, but of course there are some linking pins between them. The first group are the locals - the ones whose great-grand fathers were born here, the ones whose sons or daughters remain living here, the ones who do not speak a word English, the ones who chase the wild boars. The second group were more or less young people when they arrived in the eighties from the north of France, UK, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. They are well integrated, they speak more or less fluent French, they work here, their sons and daughters went to school here (but are now studying or working elsewhere) and a lot of social life in the villages is organised by them. However, they are not so well-integrated that they are hunting together with the locals! Since I started living here I have also seen a third group appear. It consists of older well to do people from the UK. French is really difficult for them, but thanks to satellite TV, their friends and family who visit them and their English friends here, that is not really a problem. Is this influx from the UK good or bad? Both, I think because on the one hand thanks to them a lot of people have jobs as they pump considerable money into the local economy. Bad, because it is difficult to integrate if you do not work here and if you do not speak the language.   FE: Do you have any advice or opinions for those people who also dream of moving to the Languedoc? Anton: In the Netherlands the Renault 4 was quite a popular car. However, that was a long time ago. They are all gone. Here you see them regularly and not because the owners love old cars. No, it is because they cannot afford a new car. In other words, the Aude is a poor department. Furthermore, there are only 350,000 people living here. That means it can be difficult to earn a living here, where the local economy is mainly wine and tourism. But there are niche areas which have potential, such as catering to the English speaking community or exploring avenues in the wine industry – the main thing is to do a lot of research before coming here to understand what unique service you can provide. FE: So how have you been making a living here? Anton: The first 10 years I was still very much linked to The Netherlands working as an economist and CPA. It was more or less easy to have now and then a lucrative consultancy job for Dutch clients. So easy, that it was not interesting from a financial point of view to set up a real business here. Thanks to those jobs life became easy here. Furthermore it made it possible to concentrate on the things I really liked irrespective of the revenue. That is how I was able to set up my business designing and constructing bespoke furniture. FE: Yes, tell us more about the jump from consultancy to furniture making? My granddad was an artist. He didn't sing, he didn't dance, he didn't write. No, he designed and constructed wooden furniture. He was not only my granddad, but also my teacher. As a young boy I often joined him in his workshop, I handed him nails, I made glue, I sanded, I sawed and I watched when he said, “now watch me doing this”. When I became a teenager I didn't enjoy it anymore and I stopped joining him. After finishing school I went to university. Many years later, after his funeral, I was the only one who was interested in his old tools, his study books and his notebooks from his school, the 'Dordrechtsche Ambachtsschool'. I took them with me, thinking they might be useful one day later. Eventually 'later' arrived, when I arrived at Domaine Barot . There was so much space and quietness instead of stress and noise. After finishing the renovation of the house, I found those study books and notebooks again and I felt straight away that I had been presented with a new challenge: building a new career as a maker of functional wood art. My career started with trial and error. As a matter of fact lots of error. But slowly I started mastering this job. Now I'm in the next phase, I have my own collection of furniture I'm selling, and I know what to make and how to make it.   FE: Where do you get your inspiration? Anton: I learnt my trade from my granddad but I do not work like him: he felt that the visible parts of weed in a piece of furniture had to be perfect. But living here in the Aude, where we are surrounded by woods and where wood is such an integral part of our lives, I have seen so many trees in all their different states and so much raw wood I know that wood itself is not perfect. Every tree has its holes, knots and imperfections. That is just an integral part of the tree. So for me, a piece of furniture made of wood may show those holes, knots and imperfections. That way it proves it really comes from a tree. I get my inspiration from all around me. Most evenings you will find me with my squared notebook, a pencil and an eraser. That is all I need to feel happy. For hours I can sketch and draw. If I'm satisfied the next phase plays out in my workshop. There I transform the drawings into a real piece of furniture. Sometimes during that process I become less and less satisfied with the design. In that case I adapt it. If that doesn't work, there is only one solution. It becomes firewood, because I really must feel happy with it. After the first one, a second one, a copy, would be easy, but in principal I usually only construct one piece from a design. FE: Where can people see your furniture for sale? Anton: Yes, of course I cannot always design and produce. I also have to sell. So I have I set up a permanent gallery in my house, so everybody can pop in and have a look at the furniture (though it's a good idea to phone first to check that we're in). For those who do not have the time to visit they can visit my website where they'll find all information about the furniture, including a few hundred photos, can be viewed. Furthermore, I show my furniture at exhibitions and galleries in the Aude. The next phase will be to search for one or a few specialised shops in Carcassonne and Toulouse. for more information about Anton Greefhorst's bespoke furniture please visit his website – www.greefhorst.net - or contact him on +33 (0)4 68 69 50 17 to arrange a viewing of his work at Domaine Barot, located on the Route Départementale D44, 11300 Villelongue d'Aude, south of Carcassonne. Languedoc Living Home Page |
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