A Longere
The House is a Longere. Longeres are found in rural areas and were generally inhabited by farmers or artisans. They are lengthwise houses, the name itself meaning “rectangular shape” in French.
The longère is traditionally oriented with the back of the house facing the dominant wind direction. Ours faces south which is usual for a Longere. Many longères offer accommodation on only one storey. Often the attic is converted into a first floor accommodation to increase the total living area available. The attic in our house has been converted at some point however the upstairs is not currently used as it can only be accessed by ladder. But that is a project for the future!
Come inside and explore further
The house has a stable door and green shutters. The shutters being painted transformed the house – they give it character.
Once inside the house you are straight into the open plan living area. The woodburning stove is to your left with a cosy place to sit and watch TV or listen to music.
You will see the kitchen area opposite you as you go thorugh the front door. Dividing the dining and sitting areas are vertical wooden beams, mirroring divides found in the outbuilding originally used for animals, now our wood shed. This seems a typical feature of these kind of houses in the Berry area.
The kitchen is simple with gas cylinder cooker, fridge and sink. The kitchen area is filled with studio pottery and vintage china. In fitting out the kitchen a range of quirky second hand pottery and china was acquired, some in the UK but now from brocantes and Emmaus in France. It was great fun searching out the plates, tea pot and ornaments to give the area some character. We still visit local brocantes and Emmaus centres to look for additions we can restore for our collection. We’ll visit some of these in the blog over time.
When we bought the house the back wall was orange and it’s now been painted a bold, bright sunflower yellow increasing the brightness of the room.
To the right is the dining area which leads through into the bedroom. There are lots of windows on the south wall of the house and it gives it lots of light
The Utility area and bathroom are reached from the dining area.
The house has a fosse septique (septic tank) which means we’re resticted about use of household bleaches and cleaners. The Fosse has a grease trap – “bac à graisse” – which regularly needs clearing. Not an enjoyable job but we’ll add a video of this fun activity on our youtube channel and a blog post next time it’s done!
The woodburner is great in the Autumn and Spring evenings and obviously through the cold days of winter!
A French Country Journal 