The traditional Nevachian house

It's partly these traditional houses that give the Clarée valley its charm, but if visitors find them pastoral and bucolic, we mustn't forget that these houses enabled the inhabitants to live, survive and work. Over the centuries, the inhabitants of these remote valleys have developed a habitat adapted to their needs, the characteristics of the area, the climate, natural hazards and resources... The house is in fact a single building, housing people, animals and a barn, all built with local materials: stone masonry and lime plaster, rot-proof larch wood for the shingle roof and framework. The roofs slope gently to keep the snow as insulation. Houses are built in clusters to minimize the distance between gathering places such as chapels, communal ovens, washhouses and schools (if any) on cold winter days. The volume of the houses is simple and monolithic, for reasons of energy conservation and simplicity of construction. Balconies (the pontchin) face the sun and are very close to the roof, as they were used as drying rooms: the close-knit roof protected the drying process from rain and snow. Masonry walls are used for living quarters and animal housing, as they possess excellent thermal inertia. Lastly, timber-framed walls are used at the top of the house for hay and crop storage areas, allowing the crops to breathe away from the damp. The particularity of these old houses lies in the cohabitation of men and animals: access was through a single door on the ground floor, which gave direct access to the vaulted rooms: the stable, the kitchen and the living room. In the most rudimentary houses, it was often the case that the inhabitants slept in the same room as the animals, in order to share the warmth of the room. Sources : - Clarée Valley Architectural and Landscape Guide - Guide published by the CCB - Clarée Step by Step... Jean-Michel Neveu and Marianne Chanel