Pays de la Loire Chaumieres/ Thatched Houses

We continue our trip with these typical and really unique thatched Pays de Loire properties. Below is a description of the traditional thatched chaumieres that are really sought-after nowadays. Buying such a characterful house is possible and incredibly affordable!

• The typical Pays de Loire thatched chaumière is a rural traditional house. It is also present in Normandy, Brittany and elsewhere in Europe (British Isles, Germany,...). The name comes from its thatched roof called Chaume in French. This thatch is made up of wheat, rye or reeds.
Top Tip!
The word chaumière is also used in French to refer to a family house or a household.
• Pays de la Loire’s chaumières were built using local materials. It allowed poor farmers to build a traditional character house simply and above all, cheaply in this region of France where people were seldomly well-off. Water melt with clay, stones, wood and cereals picked up around were ideal to build a house, close, local and cheap.
• The traditional chaumière property often boasts a groundwork made up of flint that enables a good insulation. Walls and the roofs are often made up of wood systems called colombage (half-timbering). Between the beams, torchis (cob) is used. It is a local material made up of water, clay and hay.
• The thatched house itself is made up of rooms in a row, each room having its own window and there is a door between each room.
• To protect the front of the Chaumiere property, a local material is used. Composed of sand, whitewash and linen, it gives a white colour to the walls.

Thatched House in Pays de Loire.