Rhone Alpes Chalets
Chalets are a traditional French house type. These mountain properties are made simply but can resist strong weather conditions. They offer outstanding views over the Alps and are ideal as holiday houses if you are fond of skiing and hiking.
In the Savoy department many
chalets are to be seen. Walls are often made of stone and bear a structure made of wood.
Traditional Chalet, Abondance, Haute-Savoie.   |
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Local materials are used to build these Savoy houses, insulating them from the humidity of the soil. Fir tree and larch are generally used. French
chalets are also the result of a strong Swiss influence in the region.
In this part of the Rhone Alps region, roofs are often of massive dimensions, oriented towards the sun direction. In the north of the area, chalets are foremost made of wood whilst in the south, they are mainly made of stone.
A typical
chalet has wooden stairs on the outside of the house to reach the first floor’s balcony. These latter are generally decorated and craft worked. Shutters also bear decorations as fir trees shapes, hearts, stars..
Chalets shutters are painted and decorated.   |
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Chalets are first and foremost simple properties that were originally barns, attics or temporary shelters in case of bad weather. It has become a house thanks to its warm features.
Top Tip!
With French-Property.com it is swift to
find a cheap chalet in the Alpine area of Rhone-Alpes. In the valleys and towns, stone houses prevail.
On the roofs many diverse materials are used such as slates, flat tiles, flat schist tiles or gneiss. Gneiss is a rock approaching granite in composition, commonly rich in quartz, that was naturally formed at temperatures above about 550°c.
Chalets have a roof protecting the front façade from the rain, snow and strong local winds. The house windows’ are wide and often painted in many different luminous colours.
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