07 February 2020

Montrichard houses

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?

19 comments:

  1. 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...

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  2. Hi 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!

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  3. One wouldn't get away with that in England, there would be a restoration to original order slapped on it.....and probably a large fine!

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  4. Here are some photos of houses in Troyes, a city southeast of Paris where bubbly champagne wine is produced.

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  5. Replies
    1. Santa isn't hanging, he's climbing. We see those all over the place at Christmastime.

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  6. Disgusting!
    Jim

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  7. 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.

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  8. It's the Ecce Homo fresco restoration in three dimensions:

    https://nypost.com/2016/03/12/infamous-botched-jesus-painting-now-a-major-tourist-attraction/

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    1. LOL! This example and those houses show that renovation or restoration must be made with prudence and taste, and be true to the original.

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    2. Are renovation and restoration synonyms?

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    3. The 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.

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  9. It will take 100 years for these houses to look good again. :(

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    Replies
    1. But 100 years is a relatively short time considering when the houses must have been built.

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  10. With the confidence that comes from other people not liking the modern version, I hate it. Criminal act almost.

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    1. As CHM said, the people who did it should be taken out and shot. Sounds like an American solution to me (thinking about Trump).

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  11. I'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.

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What's on your mind? Qu'avez-vous à me dire ?