Aquitaine Maisons Landaises
The term maison landaise means a typical house from the Landes region of Aquitaine in South Western France. There is no clearly defined architectural style when it comes to describing them.
The generally understood style for a
maison landaise is inspired by the
oustaù or
oustaou, a traditional house that could be found in clearings throughout forest of the
Landes de Gascogne, an vast area bordered to the West by the Atlantic ocean, to the North by the
Médoc, Bordelais, Bazadais and
Queyran vineyards, to the South by the
Pays d’Albret and the
Gélise River. This is area of forest initially reclaimed and replanted by Napoléon in the 19th century.
The traditional Oustaù
The original
oustaù is a half-timbered property, a house boasting a wood pigeon-wing shaped roof (called
coda de paloma in the local dialect). A carpenter would generally build the whole house, using local wood and trees. The walls were generally made up of a clay mixture with straw, and filled with cob (
torchis), that was gradually replaced with bricks or
Garluche (a local stone).
An
oustau house was traditionally oriented with the back of the house facing the dominant wind direction, typically coming from the West in this region of South west France. The techniques used to build these original houses are really similar to those used by Marine carpenters.
An Oustau, Traditional Aquitaine Property.   |
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- The main entrance hall of the house and the exterior canopy / porch area was generally built on the Eastern side of the house (similar to those on Breton houses, as a shelter against the wind). The house is constructed to benefit from the morning sunshine and avoid the summer months heat.
- The rear of an oustau house, often oriented towards the West, had to be able to resist the strong winds and bad climate coming off the Atlantic ocean. This side of the house almost never has any windows or doors, the extreme limit of the roof almost touches the ground. This really protects the house itself from the rain and the wind. In the northern Landes and towards the Médoc and Arcachon, this wall was often painted with tar to maximise the protection.
The
oustaù is built around the main central room, fitted with a chimney and connected with a small utility room. That main room is also sometimes the kitchen. This living area of the house would have definitely boasted the highest amount of furniture in the house: a long table, benches to sit, few chairs, a cupboard and a china cabinet. Historically guests never had access to the bedrooms except for some special occasions like a birth or illness or death.
The
oustaù was a house where typically several generations of a family lived, from the grandparents to the grandchildren. Young girls and other unmarried family members also tended lived in the family
oustaù.
Maisons à Auvent (Houses with a canopy)
Some
oustaù houses are variations of
maisons a auvent. Traditionally a maison a auvent is a house fitted with a canopy area. Their primary purpose is to provide a place to receive friends and guests and a place to rest in summer. They represented the wealth of the owner, and were typically associated with
Maisons de Maitre (masters’ houses or bourgeois houses) style houses in France. The auvent originally is a shelter against the wind coming from the Sea.
Aquitaine house with a canopy, indicated with the red arrow   |
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The outbuildings of the oustaù
The classic outbuildings of an
oustaù are a wine warehouse, cowsheds, and barns. These outbuildings were built not close to one another, in order to avoid fire spreading between them in such an accident.
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