Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The farm of Bigorre is an emblematic rural construction located in the hamlet of the same name, on the commune of Saint-Front in Haute-Loire. It embodies the architectural model of the block house, characteristic of the mountainous areas of the Central Massif. This type of housing comprises a living room, a barn on the ground floor and a barn on the first floor under one roof, optimizing space and resources in a demanding agricultural environment. Its construction dates from the late eighteenth or nineteenth century, periods marked by relative stability of rural construction techniques in the region.

The hamlet of Bigorre is distinguished by the conservation of a remarkable set of cottages, of which this farm is a representative specimen. These buildings, often covered with thatch or lauze, bear witness to the peasant lifestyles of the Velay between the 18th and 19th centuries, where livestock and food crops structured daily life. The farm was listed as historic monuments by order of 31 December 1996, thereby recognizing its architectural and ethnological heritage value. Its inscription includes the court and an overhanging annex, inseparable elements of its original spatial organization.

In the 1980s, the farm was enhanced by the creation of an ecomuseum, led by the commitment of Robert Cortial, a local figure passionate about history. This eco-museum, now closed since 2022, was designed to transmit traditional know-how and rural history of the Mézenc plateau. The farm, owned by the commune of Saint-Front, remains a material testimony of the architectural and social adaptations of the peasant communities of Haute-Loire to the constraints of their environment.

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