Auvergne Pisé Houses (Bourbonnais area)

Auvergne is one of the French regions having Pisé houses. Pisé is known as rammed earth or cobwork in English and is basically a mix of local earth with water.

Cobwork / Pisé is a building material which uses rammed earth shaped between two parallel frames called forms. This gives a really nice aspect to Auvergne Pisé houses.

Rammed earth construction reflects, without interpretation, the natural colours of the Auvergne locality and can make you save on energy since the embodied energy needed to build it is so low compared to modern techniques.

Auvergne Rammed Earth Houses are gorgeous.

Pisé houses in the Auvergne region can foremost be found in the Bourbonnais area where many traditional houses were built with this material.

Many houses in the Massif Central area of Auvergne are built partially in Pisé, corresponding to the ancient functions of the house, the farm buildings being made of Pisé, the habitable space being made of stone.

The Livradois aera of Auvergne also accounts for many Pisé houses. As in Bourbonnais and Massif Central areas, houses are partially made of Pisé. A house with the habitable space made of stone instead of Pisé was originally a sign of wealth and powerin the society.

Authentic Pisé Wall.

Auvergne is a French region where many different house types can be found. Go to the next page of our dossier to learn more.