While the Dordogne sun is finally warming the soil and our terrace is calling for apéros, we’re still very much in “behind the scenes” mode at La Maison Louverie. This year, that means taking real, practical steps to make your holiday home more comfortable and more sustainable for the long term.
Part 2: Super double glazed windows, Less Energy Waste
This week we completed part 2 of our “making Louverie more eco‑friendly” with installing five new windows certified NF–FCBA ACOTHERM n°87.1 A3 E7B VA2 Uw: 1.6 incl. Periglass 25 S2 CEKAl 627.
In normal-people terms, that means:
- Periglass 25: Brand + thickness (25 mm total glass unit).
- S2: Safety glass class 2 – tempered or laminated for impact resistance.
- CEKAl: French CEKAL certification mark (since 1989) guaranteeing:
- The Uw 1.6 value describes the overall insulation of the window; the lower this number, the better it keeps heat in.
- 627: Internal product/reference code (thickness combo or spec variant).
In layman terms: High-quality French-certified double/triple glazing – safe, insulated, storm-proof. -Energy sufficient-
Planting a Future Park: 28 New Trees
Just as the sun started warming the ground – and just before the rain returned – we went outside with spades and muddy boots and planted 28 new trees.
Among them:
- 14 walnut trees
- 1 fig tree
- 1 small pine
- And a mix of other young trees to add variety and shade
We planted them outside the main fenced garden, with the idea of slowly creating a park‑like environment around La Maison Louverie. This will take time, of course, but each sapling is a small promise for more shade, more birds, more colour, and more life in the years to come.
Why Our Field “Chaos” Is on Purpose
If you look closely, behind the fence and further away from the property, you’ll notice something we don’t do: we don’t burn our heaps of garden waste.
Instead of sending weeds, branches and cuttings up in smoke, we:
- Create piles of branches and green waste in selected corners.
- Let them slowly break down and create their own micro‑climate.
- Allow moisture to stay in the ground longer, which is very welcome in dry periods.
These piles:
- Become a beautiful feeding and shelter area for the new trees as the material decomposes.
- Offer a safe haven for small wildlife: hedgehogs, rabbits, insects and many other small creatures that share the land with us.
It may look a little like chaos at first glance, but nature rarely grows in straight lines. Out of this “chaos” comes a quieter kind of order – and a healthier ecosystem around the house.
Sunshine on the Roof: Our Solar Panels in Numbers
On the roof, our 32 solar panels continue to work away quietly whenever the Dordogne sun shines.
So far, they have helped us save around 2243 kg of CO₂ emissions, which is roughly equal to 90,733 km driven in a small car – kilometres powered by sunshine instead of fossil fuels. (If you’re curious, we share more about this under the “Sustainability” menu on our website.) It’s not perfect, and we are still learning, but every kilowatt-hour of solar power is one more step in the right direction.
When You Can Experience It All: 2026 Dates
When you stay at La Maison Louverie, you don’t have to choose between comfort and caring for the planet. The better windows mean a cosier house, the solar panels quietly turn Dordogne sunshine into electricity, and the “wild” corners in our field give hedgehogs and other small animals a safe place to live. You can simply enjoy your holiday, knowing that your stay supports gentle choices for this little corner of France.
If you’d like to see all this for yourself – here are the weeks we still have available in April, May and June, plus the post‑19 September period and our favorite month, October:
- April: From 17 till the 27th
- May: From the 10th till the 14th – the 17th till the 24th
- June: From the 20th till the 24th – and the 29th till the 4th of July
- From 19 September onwards:
- October Our most beautiful month: soft light, warm days, cool nights)
You can always find the most up‑to‑date availability on our website: www.lamaisonlouverie.com
