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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The house with beams of Peyregras in Mazières-Naresse is an emblematic specimen of the squared log constructions, typical of the north of the Agenas at the edge of the Périgord. These houses, built between the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century, reflect a wooden construction technique stacked, comparable to Nordic chalets. Their concentration around the cantons of Villeréal and Castillonnès, as well as their spread to Issigeac and Villeneuve-sur-Lot, is explained by the repopulation of the region after the Hundred Years War, thanks in particular to migratory waves coming from the Central Massif and Poitou.

The study of these houses began in 1971 under the leadership of François Fray, then by the Association des Amis du Pastourais, which recorded 53 copies. Their ethnological and archaeological interest was recognized by the regional heritage commissions, leading to the classification or registration of seven of them between 1991 and 1992. The house of Peyregras, classified in 1996, illustrates this unique heritage, with an architecture divided into two spaces: one dedicated to harvests, the other to housing, separated by a half-timbered partition.

The historical context of these buildings is marked by the need to repopulate the Agenas and the Périgord, devastated after the Battle of Castillon (1453) and the Hundred Years War. Local lords and abbots offered land to newcomers, provided they cleared them and built a house there. This policy has promoted the emergence of these wooden dwellings, adapted to the local resources and needs of immigrant families. The house of Peyregras, modified in the sixteenth century, thus bears witness to the economic and social evolution of the region.

The name "house with stacking" was popularized by researchers of the 20th century, although earlier comparisons, such as Jules Mommeja's in 1903, already evoked similarities with Scandinavian constructions. These houses are distinguished from other French regions where similar techniques exist, such as in Savoie or Dauphiné, where it is rather referred to as "buildings in room-on-room". Their preservation offers valuable insight into the lifestyles and know-how of the late medieval and reborn era.

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