French-Property.com

Gers Houses with pebbles-walls

In the Gers French department, walls made of pebbles can be found, similarily to what can be seen in the nearby Aquitaine French region. These pebbles can be seen inside (as part of the decoration obviously) or outside the house.

The particularity of these Gascony walls made of pebbles is that some horizontal bricks are inserted regularly and appear on the wall. Normally the bricks are a hidden part of the wall meant to ensure a good stability. They are inserted perfectly horizontally to help strenghten the pebbles wall, this is most important because these walls are often sensitive to high humidity.
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A wall made of pebbles following a bracken structure is evidence of finest craftmanshift, due to the complex nature and expense of its contruction. Indeed, even restoring such a Gascony house nowadays is expensive, so for these generally modest farmers' families, the house was a pretty significant investment.
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Obviously, the pebbles that are displayed on the outside of the house are often the most beautiful and uniformly shaped pebbles used in the construction of a wall in Gers.