Chaumiere Normande

(Wikipedia)

The cottage is a traditional rural dwelling house in western Europe, taking its name from its roof covered with straw (straw of wheat or rye , rods reeds ). In France, it is present particularly in Normandy and Briere .

The construction of houses in the Normandy countryside the peasants had to use all the common materials of their habitat: water mixed with clay, stone, wood and an abundance of cultivated cereals such as wheat or rye .

The base of the house is often made ​​of flint because of its sealing properties very useful during the autumn and the winter . The walls and roof are made ​​from a blend of oak beams, called studs , between which is a mixture of straw, clay and water, known as cob (local land or coulter).

To be watertight, the thatched roof must have a steep slope. 

Thus, for its height is reasonable, the house must be close, even be very long: this partly explains the characteristic shape of the traditional Normandy cottage, it often consists of a series of rooms communicating with each other and each with a window and a door to the outside.