I stayed in a gîte in the Pyrenees recently. It was an old sheep barn converted by the owner. He did it all by himself, by hand. It was really cosy, bare wooden, restored beams. He used hemp and lime for the plaster. It had this really nice texture and it looks really warm and rustic, if walls can look warm! He told us the insulation worked nicely too especially with the wood burner downstairs, the place stayed warm through winter. It had a thatched roof which would have helped.

Nice, wish I could own a little place like that.