The Logis in the 18th century

It is a rectangular house with one floor, built according to a “saintongeais” plan. First floor and ground floor are the same. In the middle there is the hall all the way across from South to North. On both sides, you have four rooms, two facing South, two including the staircase facing North. The front of the house, facing South, is built of visible stone. Each end is ornamented with pilasters and in the middle a projection.

That projection overhangs the front door, the French window and its balcony. It is crowned with a pediment which rests upon an imposing cornice. You can get to the kitchen, on the east side of the house, going through one of the reception rooms on the ground floor. The back of the house, facing North, is covered with a smooth roughcast, the same as on the other sides. The style is sober.

The logis in the 19th century : The Palladian

At the beginning of the 19th century, works of extension get started. The building is heightened and the exterior modified. But these works are suddenly interrupted in the 1850s and will never be completed. The ground floor is the only habitable floor for the holiday… A third floor is made out of the heightening of the attic. Now the logis has a ground floor, a first and a second floor. The material are the same as before, except for the frame that is higher and more sloping to slate the roof. The architectural style and construction rules are respected. The rhythm of the verticals, with the pilasters and the projection, is even more pronounced. The rhythm of the horizontals is accentuated by the lines which emphasize and support the openings.

On the first floor the French window is kept and its balcony as well. It is very important for the front of the house. Its scale is different from the scale of the front. As a “trompe-l’oeil”, it gives the first floor an imposing aspect. Interior modifications mainly concern the heigthening of the attic. Indeed, the staircase is suppressed and stairs demolished. Another staircase is built to lead into the two floors. The original staircase is replaced by a room on each floor. The doors which lead to each room on the ground floor have also to be changed. Some were to low or to narrow for the time. So they are filled in. Big double doorways are opened in the walls on the same line as other rooms, after the fashion of the 19th century. Works will be done in the kitchen, on the east side of the house, during the 20th century.

All these changes have not damaged the interior and exterior aspect of that dwelling. Inevitably, it had to go through different periods. But today one can admire the savoir-faire of the wise builders of the 19th century who gave the logis its Palladian look, respecting its elegance, nobility, charm and secrets…