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Origin and history

The house with beams of Petit-Buzard in Segalas is part of a set of 53 houses located in the North-Agenas, on the edge of the Périgord, built between the last quarter of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. These houses, built in squared logs of wood, bear witness to a rare construction technique in France, comparable to Nordic chalets. Their systematic discovery began in 1971 thanks to François Fray and the Association des Amis du Pastourais, which studied its geographical distribution, concentrated around the cantons of Villeréal and Castillonnès, with extensions to Issigeac and Villeneuve-sur-Lot.

The origin of these houses is related to the repopulation of the Agenas after the Hundred Years War (1453) and plague outbreaks. Two major migration waves took place: the first between 1472 and 1485 (between Garonne and Dordogne), the second between 1515 and 1530 (Rivières du Dropt). Families from the central Massif (Rouergue, Quercy, Auvergne, Limousin) or Poitou benefit from land offered by the lords and abbots, provided they are cleared and built there. This context explains the growth of these fast and economical wood constructions, adapted to local resources.

The Petit-Buzard House, listed as a historic monument in 1991 (except for recent elements), illustrates this vernacular heritage. Its simple plan, divided into two rooms (one for housing, the other for crops), combines three walls in stacked beams and a tuff stone gable housing the fireplace, dating from the late 15th or 16th century. Around the main body, there are annexes: a gallery to the south, a barn in wooden strips to the north, and a modern extension to the west. Its architecture evokes Scandinavian or Alpine techniques, although its name "house with stacking" is a local name, absent in other French regions where this type of construction exists (e.g. "room-on-room" in Savoie).

The archaeological and ethnological interest of these houses was recognized by the Regional Heritage Commissions, resulting in the protection of seven of them between 1991 and 1992. Among them, Petit-Buzard is distinguished by its state of conservation and its representativeness of the Agenese model. The dendrochronological studies and inventories conducted since the 1970s have documented their typology, their precise dating, and their role in the history of the post-medieval rural settlement.

The name "house for stacking" is attributed to local researchers, notably François Fray, who in 1974 published a founding article in the History of Art Information. This term is necessary to refer to this specific heritage, distinct from other log constructions stacked in France (such as in Savoie or Dauphiné). Jules Momméja, as early as 1903, had already emphasized the similarities with the Norwegian houses of Telemark, highlighting their originality in the French architectural landscape.

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