About the house

About
the house

It's hard to find any information on when the house was built. From what I've been able to find out, the two-story side was once a feed and seed store. You can see from the inside that there was likely a different door and window arrangement from what it has today.
The man I buy my firewood from once lived (along with seven others) in the one-story side of the house. He told me they had to go to the outhouse to do their business, and the house had no running water – and this was in the 1960s.
(Continued below)

Cold winter morning. The two-story part of the house was built to fit the road, rendering a pentagonal footprint.

The roof is supported by post-and-beam joinery. This attic space is unfinished but will be converted to an en suite in the future.

My French car, a Citroën Berlingo, is parked in front of the house.

End wall of the two-story part of the house. Notice the protruding stones, which you find on many of the old houses here. Perhaps it was the mason's way of signing his work. I can't seem to find anyone who knows what they were for.

It's customary to have colorful window boxes here in rural France.

(Continued from above)
The house was likely built sometime in the 1700s. It was probably the first house on Rue du Feyt (Feyt being a former community at the end of the road). There is a rock barn across the street that may have been associated with the house at one time or another.
One mystery is the Celtic cross that is carved into the granite next to the front door of the two-story part. It would be interesting to find out the significance of it.
Also, there is a large iron plate in the cantou (hearth) of the one-story part. It was designed to hold and radiate heat from the open fireplace. There is an embossed image of a pope or some other religious figure on it.
I'm sure there are many stories these walls could tell.
Another interesting thing about the house is how I purchased it. Owned by the commune, it was put up for bid along with two other properties. I made a bid, but made sure to add some random numbers, in this case 119 euros to the end of the bid. Turns out, I won the bid by 119 euros.

A night shot taken right after I made the sealed bid on the house.

The cantou as it looked when I purchased the house.

A test fire before I had a cast iron wood burner installed. Note the iron heat plate behind the fire.

Celtic cross carved into the granite outside the front door.

An iron heat plate sports the image of a pope or some other religious figure. A Belgian friend told me recently that she thinks the image on the iron plate is most likely Saint Eligius, patron saint of blacksmiths.