Poitou Charentes Half Timbered Properties

Poitou Charentes’ typical half-timbered properties are clearly beautiful. The use of wood forms the key element of these traditional houses.

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Wood is used both inside and outside these half-timbered houses for both decoration or protection.

This half-timbered style is a legacy of Middle Ages. Some exquisite examples of half timbering can then be found in the gorgeous Deux-Sevres department (Niort, Parthenay), but also in Charente (Cognac, amongst other places).

Poitou Charentes half-timbered properties walls are also made up of a cob and stone mix. Some of these half timbered houses have a corbelling structure, giving more space to the upper floors’ rooms.

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A Corbel is in this case a piece of wood jutting out of a wall to carry the superincumbent weight of the floor above.

This is a technique used since Neolithic times – late Stone Age (around 3,500 BC). It is actually a traditional construction method used in Poitou Charentes.

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• Summary of Poitou-Charentes Architecture