These old houses are across the street from the real estate office where we started our house search in 2002.
I took this photo in Montrichard on December 13 that year.
You wouldn't recognize these houses today. Below is a photo I took on February 27, 2008.
They were being renovated at the time. What do you think?
Well, then......while the original could have done with a little spruce up, or cleaning, the yellow and red seem out of character for half-timbered buildings. Is there a historic preservation board that would have to approve such a thing? The mortar touch up is a bit heavy handed as well, outweighing the brick and changing the character. IMO as they say...
ReplyDeleteHi David. I completely agree with you. What a shame. These houses were disfigured. As you say, they lost all character. Now, they look like they were imported from Disneyland! The renovator should be shot for treason!
ReplyDeleteOver the top, CHM.
DeleteYep Disneyland was my first reaction too!
DeleteOne wouldn't get away with that in England, there would be a restoration to original order slapped on it.....and probably a large fine!
ReplyDeleteHere are some photos of houses in Troyes, a city southeast of Paris where bubbly champagne wine is produced.
ReplyDeleteDid they hang Santa?
ReplyDeleteSanta isn't hanging, he's climbing. We see those all over the place at Christmastime.
DeleteDisgusting!
ReplyDeleteJim
Ugly! I love old buildings and have restored many old homes in my life. Too old to do so any longer and I miss it terribly. Simply makes me sad to see something like that.
ReplyDeleteIt's the Ecce Homo fresco restoration in three dimensions:
ReplyDeletehttps://nypost.com/2016/03/12/infamous-botched-jesus-painting-now-a-major-tourist-attraction/
LOL! This example and those houses show that renovation or restoration must be made with prudence and taste, and be true to the original.
DeleteAre renovation and restoration synonyms?
DeleteThe way I understand it, in French rénovation is a lighter process than restauration. In my mind, renovation, as Diogenes says, involve sprucing up or cleaning, whereas restoration means puting back to prior state, as in restauration á l'identique, something that has been damaged or partly destroyed.
DeleteIt will take 100 years for these houses to look good again. :(
ReplyDeleteBut 100 years is a relatively short time considering when the houses must have been built.
DeleteWith the confidence that comes from other people not liking the modern version, I hate it. Criminal act almost.
ReplyDeleteAs CHM said, the people who did it should be taken out and shot. Sounds like an American solution to me (thinking about Trump).
DeleteI'm French and I disagree (and I'm really more into preservation/restoration than renovation). But many many timber-framed houses in France have colored post & beams. Maybe the colors could have been faded a bit. What would you say about the colorful houses in Alsace then? https://www.easyvoyage.com/france/les-maisons-a-colombages-4997 (the mortar between the beams is painted bright, not the beams). Or the Pays Basque houses whose beams are painted a bright red.
ReplyDelete