Beautiful Half-Timbered Houses

Take a look around you. Since entering Rue du Belzic, you’ve already passed several beautiful half-timbered houses. In this type of construction, the wooden beams form the main framework and support the weight of the building.

The spaces between them were filled with whatever materials were readily available, often a mixture of earth and plant fibers known as wattle and daub, but sometimes also small stones or bricks. The whole surface was then covered with plaster, so originally the beams were not always as exposed as they are today. This building method was especially practical in busy trading towns.

The ground floor often housed a shop or workshop, while the family lived upstairs. And because building plots were narrow, the upper floors sometimes projected out over the street. This is called jettying: a clever way to gain extra space above, even if it meant the house leaned slightly over the people walking below!

The house you saw at the beginning of the street dates from the 16th century, but it is far from the only one. Auray still has around forty half-timbered houses. Today, this style of architecture is strongly associated with Brittany, but you can also find it in Normandy, Alsace, Troyes, and Bourges.

So why isn’t it everywhere? Partly because each region built with the materials it had available, but also because wood has one serious drawback: it burns. Over time, fires, new safety regulations, and the widening of streets led many of these houses to disappear or be replaced with stone facades.

The ones that remain in Auray are therefore remarkable survivors. Now that you know their story, you may find yourself looking at them a little differently.