I am Valérian Sauvage. I have worked on old buildings since 2018. Today I am an owner’s representative (in French, an AMO) for period houses east of Paris, and I work in English and in French.
Where I learnt the trade
I started on the Côte d’Azur, with Côté Face in Villeneuve-Loubet. I trained in lime with Lisbonis in Marseille and in mineral paints with KEIM: two materials that still shape the way I look at a facade.
I then joined Groupe EDDIFIS, which renovates Parisian buildings. There I worked on hôtels particuliers, the private mansions of Paris, on cut-stone facades and on interiors. These buildings ask for patience and precision, down to the last moulding.
What drives me
Old buildings, their architecture, and a certain idea of beauty. Every project starts the same way: by listening to the house, and to those who live in it. A period house was built with materials and methods that made sense; before changing anything, I try to understand them. I want what I recommend to last, and to be right for the house.
Two commitments sum it up: restore without betraying the house, and look after it from the ridge of the roof to the door handle.
How I work today
I am based in La Varenne-Saint-Hilaire, in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, and I speak English fluently. As an owner’s representative, I visit the house, read the building, prepare a detailed quote with a partner company and follow the works until handover.
I also act as a technical sales adviser for these companies: they pay me, and my visit and my advice are not invoiced to you. For roofs, I use a drone, which gives photos and measurements without climbing up.
My work centres on facades: facade restoration in millstone, brick, stone and lime render. I work mainly in the towns around Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, and elsewhere in France on a project basis.
The companies I work with
- FRONTIS, based in Champigny-sur-Marne: facade renovation, lime renders and limewashes, stone, millstone, brick, mineral paints and external insulation. FRONTIS is a KEIM-approved applicator.
- FRONTIS and Aertoit: roofing in slate, tile and zinc, and zinc work.
- Baltazar Berthemet, my trusted partner for finishing work (second œuvre), which comes after the facade and the roof: cabinetmaking, restoring old windows, adding insulating glazing to existing windows, and interior painting. The page on old windows and cabinetmaking (in French) presents this work.
Photos of houses and sites are on the projects page. The French version of this page is À propos.