On Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:00:45 +0000, Apellation Controlee
wrote:

Inside the door, under a grating, was a sump with a pump in it.

Presumably the pump was a manual one - or did he have his own
generator?

I only saw an electric one in place, but it would have been trivial to
drop a manual one in. When it floods there, the power supply is
intact. The house has a history of flooding, being at the foot of a
hill and dodgy rainwater drains in the road unable to carry it all
away, so the owner was driven to take measures.