Brittany Thatched Chaumieres and Primitive Houses

These are typical and extremely unique and now very sought after properties found in Brittany. Below is a description of the chaumieres and Maisons Longue. Buying this type of character home is possible and affordable, take a look at these Brittany cottages for sale

• The typical Breton chaumière is a traditional rural house. It is also present in Normandy and elsewhere in Europe (British Isles, Germany,...). The name comes from its thatched roof. This thatch is made up of wheat, rye or reeds.
• Brittany’s chaumières were built using local materials. It allowed poor farmers to build a house simply and above all, cheaply. Water melt with clay, stones, wood and cereals picked up around were ideal to build a house, close, local and cheap.
• The Breton chaumière often have groundworks made up of flint that provide good insulation. Walls and roofs are often half-timbered (colombage). Between the beams, torchis (cob) is used. It is a cheap and easily accessible local material made up of water, clay and hay.
• Often the house itself is made up of rooms aligned in a row, each room having its own window and a door between each room.
• To protect the front of the house, a local material render type material is used. Composed of sand, whitewash and linen, it gives a white colour to the walls.

• A “Maison Longue” can easily be misidentified as a Longère. These Breton houses are often 8 to 10 metres long and 5 metres wide with a roof at an angle of 45°.
• These properties normally do not have any extra floors but often boast a small attic used for grain storage and lit up thanks to small windows.
The main characteristic of this type of Brittany typical house is its dual use and purpose: it is divided into two areas by to wooden panels or a more sturdy brick wall in order to separate the living areas from the barn areas used for farm animals.


• These properties have two chimneys, one at each end of the house, for heating purposes and to prepare the animals' food. Nowadays, the barn is often converted into extra living space.