Centre Farmhouses
The Centre Farmhouse is one of the most traditional property type in this French region, since it was built and inhabited by farmers, sometimes for centuries.
Farmhouses in the area are generally surrounded by a vast garden. The outbuildings are large, especially the barns.
- Hemp growers’ houses can be found in the Tours area, these houses generally having two storeys, an oven and a storage room.
- Found along the Loire river, the bargee’s houses are bourgeois properties made of stone, with usually two storeys.
- In the Sologne area of the French Centre region, gamekeeper’s properties are common. They are generally charming small houses made of bricks.
Many of these Centre houses have been converted into properties combining the modern conveniences with their original charm.
The typical Centre Farmhouse.   |
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In ancient times, half-timbered farmhouses were built in the Centre region, using the traditional technique of timber frames and cob. Then, from 1840 onwards, bricks became the dominant construction material in the rural areas of this French region, especially in the Sologne and Perche areas.
Calcareous stones were used in the Berry, Touraine and Orleans parts of the region, the stones being often exposed. On the roofs, slates and flat tiles are generally used.
Centre Pyramidal Barns
The Centre region has a specific type of barns to be found nowhere else. They look like a massive hut, some local specialists saying they are a reminiscence from Neolithic times, though the ones you may see in Berry often date back to the XV or XVI centuries. These barns are normally used as outbuildings of a farmhouse, and they are made of wood and calcareous stone. Some of them are half-timbered, others have exposed stones inserted into the walls. Some of these Berry barns are used as houses, others as storage places.
Pyramidal barns exist only in the Centre region of France.   |
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Top Tip!
These Berry properties are typical from the area, and thus cannot be found anywhere else in France and even in Centre, there are less than 25 of them left. Some of these Berry barns have an attic. The roof is steeply pitched and is on average made up of 35,000 tiles.
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