Agas Around the World
We are always astounded when we receive enquiries from far flung places, and it’s our mantra to never turn such opportunities down. Our engineers have been all over France, visited Italy and Malaga, and right across America! We’ve sent our Agas off to warm homes in Belgium and Germany, and to the other side of the world in Australia.
Where next?! We’d love to sprinkle the globe with a little more Rural Ranges magic, so no matter how far away you are and how impossible it seems, get in touch! We may just be able to make your Aga dream happen.
Texas
This epic trip in September 2022 will forever be remembered as an adventure like no other.
When we received Tristine's request for assistance stateside, we clambered at the opportunity. Tristine had purchased her Aga privately in the US, then struggled to find anyone to install it, without an exceptionally high outlay. The opportunity for a trip to her Texas home was one too good to miss. Steve was welcomed with open arms by Tristine, George and their teenage son Iver and spent an incredible week or so on their ranch, immersing himself in the Texan lifestyle. An incredible evening was had at the Rodeo (we now know what Steve will be doing for a career in his next life!) and in eye opening visits in the local area.
Tristine and George run a company called Vintage Carriages (https://vintagecarriage.net) specialising in providing beautiful horses and carriages for events, including horse drawn hearses for funerals, and carriages for weddings and holiday gatherings. Most of their horses are the majestic French Percherons, which were awe inspiring to watch in action.
Incredibly, after making arrangements with Tristine & George to install their Aga in Rice, Texas, through the power of social media we received another message, this time from Lindsey in Sulphur Springs, just an hour and a half from Rice! Lindsey & Keith had designed their kitchen and colour scheme around the Aga they had purchased over a year previously but could not find anyone willing or qualified to install.
This was a stunning property & ranch overlooking a lake. Pigs, horses and chickens all contributed to a new found country lifestyle for this successful Texan attorney. Lindsey and Keith were great hosts and we were glad to be able to help them with their difficult situation- previous trades had made a dubious start & there were significant flue issues to first be resolved. Of course, this being Texas things were a little out of the norm- after all it’s not often 2 snakes have to be first removed when installing a UK flue!
Steve came home armed with cowboy boots, a camera roll full of bugs and snakes and spiders, and a huge bank of wonderful memories, and we are forever grateful to our spectacular hosts for introducing him to the Texan lifestyle with such openheartedness and good humour.
A Great American Adventure
September 2023 saw another adventure in America, this time with stops in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Washington!
First on the working agenda was a ‘bangs and brows’ treatment for a 3 oven Total Control in a beach house on stilts in Bethany Beach, Delaware. We replaced the Aga top plate with a gleaming newly enamelled version, exchanged the chrome domes for enamelled and replaced door liners and seals. The Aga fought hard, with well seized fixings & rust - very unusual for an Aga of this age - perhaps the salt air of the Atlantic Ocean frontage?
Our wonderful clients offered out their golf course home to Steve & Simon for the night before some free time, dipping into Ocean City, Maryland for some supplies.
Having now exported a good number of Agas, conversion kits and parts, we have refined our procedures and can now confidently fulfil any demand. From the UK, our shipment arrived on site in just 5 days.
Next stop, Pennsylvania! Steve and Simon settled in to a 2 night stay with our very welcoming hosts / clients. Bonding over a mutual love of Lord of the Rings and dining on 'grill' food and devilled eggs, a very happy time was had by all!
The 4 oven gas Aga was converted to the highly controllable eControl Series X, resulting in a much cheaper to run system with year round controllability. Then, we received a last minute call for some servicing assistance whilst in the region, so conversion successfully completed, Steve and Simon travelled to nearby Wilmington.
Job number 4, in Bethesda, Washington DC, started very pleasingly with Steve and Simon being treated to an evening at a traditional Cuban restaurant. Such reports do make us in the office question whether they really were working as hard as they claimed but we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt! The 2 oven Aga (plus integral module) had been running on gas and a more flexible economical option was sought. The Aga was fully stripped down and rebuilt with the very efficient eControl Series X system. A successful and trouble-free conversion.
Just 20 miles on in Oakton, Washington DC, they returned to the parts drop off location to complete the final working section of our trip .In this case, a full home renovation had prompted the refurbishment of the existing Aga. Using replacement parts prepared in our West Dorset workshop, we fully reconditioned the Aga in situ.
In this case, the existing black enamel was replaced like for like with a new glossy replacement, leaving the Aga looking like it had just left the factory. Brushed gold finishes were added throughout, in a shade carefully selected to match the new custom hood - a fantastic collaboration with @anthonywilderdesignbuild . We also supplied a custom plated plinth cover, drawing together the whole aesthetic. A stunning Aga for a renovation of distinction.
After a week of work and play, it was time for Steve and Simon to come home. But with more upcoming US trips scheduled for 2025, our American adventures have only just begun.
Iceland
An Aga in Iceland?!
One of our most memorable projects was supplying this classic cream to Ísafjörður, Iceland, where it is at the heart of the family home on the spit in the fjord, overlooked by the surrounding mountains.
Italy
Lake Lugano
A job we shall forever cherish came as a result of an enquiry from an Italian lady, Melania, who sought our assistance for some maintenance work on her Rayburn and Aga Companion. Melania and her husband were proprietors of the stunning Stella D'Italia on Lake Lugano on the Swiss / Italian border.
Melania hosted us for the most magical week in their hotel. Whilst Steve worked away on the Rayburn, our children and her son played, building memories that will last a lifetime.
Melania was a passionate and talented Italian cook, her Rayburn the heart of the home they had rescued from dereliction. She had a love of travel and dreamt of taking more time to explore the world with her family. Tragically, Melania is no longer with us. Her home and her family will forever live in our hearts and we hope very much one day to return to that magical place, to gaze across the still lake and give thanks for the life of a lady who loved that view and gave so much to those that loved it with her.
Bologna
We receive enquiries from across the UK and well beyond. And whilst we are realistic in the additional expenses travel can entail, we will always endeavour to bring requests to fruition wherever possible. Every now and then that has meant making a work trip, a family trip.
We first spoke to Maria in a pre Covid world when she was struggling to secure regular maintenance for her gas Aga in Bologna, Italy and contemplating converting to a more controllable system to fit in with the year round temperature extremes and her lifestyle, now much calmer than in her earlier years. Fast forward 4 years and in a changed world, we were off on our travels. With no other jobs on this occasion, Maria offered to host us in her central Bologna Bed and Breakfast, enabling her conversion to go ahead at an affordable price and providing a raft load of memories for the bank for us- a definite win win situation for all concerned.
Maria’s Bed and Breakfast was beautiful and her hosting exceptional. Her wonderful family took us for a welcome tour of the city sites and of the best local restaurants and after converting her Aga to the new Electrickit Classic system, we were able to enjoy a fantastic few days exploring the historic sites of Bologna and surrounds.
Bologna is known as the food capital of Italy and it did not disappoint. Mortadella, Parmigiano Reggiano, Proscuitto di Parma, tortellini and tagliatelle al ragu were consumed by the bucket load, the local Pignoletto wine guzzled rather too exuberantly and the many and varied markets ransacked for culinary souvenirs. Outside the city, we headed to Modena and Maranello to the Ferrari Museums and Lamborghini factory tour, at which point the children decide they no longer wanted to take on the family business and instead intend on designing super cars for a living!
Running a small business is about so much more than the balance sheet; the rewards come from the relationships made and experiences gained. It truly is all about the journey.
With eternal gratitude to Maria for some magical memories made.
France
We've been operating in France since 2018, offering our complete range of services on the continent. Post Brexit things are substantially more complex and costly than they once were, so frustratingly we are therefore only able to offer a more limited number of services. Although routine servicing is currently difficult for us to offer, we do still undertake the following across Europe:
Aga refurbishment & repacks
Electric Conversions
Reconditioned Agas
Aga removals and installations
Substantial repairs
Do get in touch whatever your Aga project or dilemma, we are always happy to help and advise. We will always assist in person if we can and if we can't personally visit, to try to find a solution to help you make things happen!
We’ve been very lucky to have had several trips to France, but none quite match the scale of this grand adventure we had in 2019.
We set off on Wednesday AM, sailing early from Poole to Cherbourg, then travelling south to Le Mans and Tours. En route we delivered a reconditioned module with gas hob to a customer wishing to enhance her existing Aga, then it was on to Auvergne. Thursday saw us installing a fully reconditioned 3 oven 13Amp Aga into a major barn refurbishment project.
Late on in our trip planning we'd heard about an individual between Geneva and Chamonix with a 30Amp breakdown. Being 'nearby' - some 250 miles off - we thought we'd pop by! The aga was a very unusual 3 phase model with multiple element failure. Some modifications to our standard stock elements ensured their Aga was fully up and running and able to provide Aga toast and overnight porridge the next morning
We were back in Normandy by Saturday evening with the excellent company of a previous customer for a quick repair to their Aga 6:4. The following morning we were treated to a hearty roast, and it was back off to the ferry port for the return sailing.
Summer 2024
The summer of 2024 took us to Marne, North West France, to convert a long term customer's Aga from 13Amp Aims to Electrickit.
We first visited back in 2019 to replace a faulty control board but our client had spoken to us for some time about their desire to reduce running costs. An Electrickit conversion was settled upon and we were glad to assist - Electrickit is particularly prized for its reliability and simplicity and therefore an excellent choice for areas where engineers are not so readily available. In this case, both induction for instant hob cooking results and wifi for year round flexibility, were installed. https://www.ruralranges.com/what-is-electrickit-aga....
Our wonderful customers were fantastic hosts and Dan and Nat were treated to a veritable feast of French cuisine before heading on their way.
Looking for a natural stopping point between our 2 jobs in France, we settled upon an Ibis near Versailles - at the Yvelines Velodrome, just a few days ahead of the Olympic Opening Ceremony. The place was a hive of activity and the public podium made for a good photo opportunity! Touristing done with, it was on to conversion number 2.
In this case, our client had purchased a used Aga in the UK and shipped it to his French renovation project. We built the Aga on site, installing a powder coated steel plinth, along with external venting - always a challenge with thick French walls! When we convert to Electrickit or eControl, none of the internal workings are retained. Instead, we treat the Aga merely as a shell in which to install the new controllable system. The wholesale nature of the conversion is key to its efficiency - 5 new elements are installed, along with complete replacement ceramic insulation and new hot plates. In addition, optional wifi and induction upgrades are available. The result- a fully flexible, supremely efficient, modern electric system.
Normandy
We were blown away by this beautiful splashback, a poignant reflection on the region’s wartime past.
Aga Engineers in France are virtually unheard of, which is why we’ve found ourselves making numerous trips to France over the years.
One of our first trips was a very special project which took us to Normandy, where our customer had two immaculately presented rental properties steeped in the history of the local area. We serviced her Aga, and then on a second trip installed a reconditioned Rural Ranges Aga and converted her 4 oven with Electrickit.
We would highly recommend a visit to Tansy’s beautiful ‘Band of Brothers’ properties, just a quick pop across the English Channel.
Spain
When one expat couple relocated from their French Farmhouse to Competa, near Malaga, Spain, their Aga simply had to travel with them.
In in early 2020 all was prepared for us to remove the Aga and pack for the journey to Spain. Then Covid hit. If Covid taught us one thing, it was how to work effectively remotely. So with no other option, and via the power of video calling, we guided them to safely self-dismantle their much loved Aga.
Fast forward 2 years and at last the time for installation was upon us. We got on the plane to Malaga and had a fantastic few days of sunshine and hard work. We are endlessly grateful to our wonderful clientele for the exceptional welcome and hospitality we receive and this trip was no exception.
One couple and their Aga at last reunited.