Tarn et Garonne Architecture
The Tarn et Garonne department has always been a land rich with colours and contrasts. This French department created only in 1808 was created from lands that were not culturally linked to one another, and has no real geographic unity. Thus soils are really varied and lanscapes too. These two elements influence widely the way properties are built since local materials are used to build these traditional houses.
In the Tarn et Garonne department of France, stones from the local rivers are abundant and thus were used to build properties in this area of Midi-Pyrenees.
Many of these Tarn et Garonne properties have a huge porch that could serve as a drying space or communal space. Some of theses porches boasts columns.
These houses are not only made of stones. The local clay was used for a long time before more modern building techniques appeared. Many parts of the house are made of wood too, like the windows’ frames.
The part dedicated to housing itself was of small dimensions, the rest of the rooms having an agricultural role only. Thus the kitchen was often the main room of this Tarn et Garonne Properties. The porch allows it to benefit from much natural light, it also boasts a large chimney.
The attic takes place under the roof and the space above the porch is often a pigeonnier.
In Midi-Pyrenees like in other French regions, the traditional houses were originally farms. Thus they come with pigeonniers. In some areas of the department, properties can be found with walls made of Pisé (rammed earth material) and the porch is not made up of clay but of wood.