17th Century French Chateau

17TH CENTURY FRENCH CHATEAU

By LaFleur Magazine

Building A Timeless House In An Instant Age

by Brent Hull

A few years ago I traveled to the south of France with a client who had just purchased a 17th century chateau and wanted my help for its restoration. I had been trained in historic preservation in Boston, Ma and had worked on many 17th and 18th century buildings, but this house was a special treat.

We soon discovered that the home had originally been owned by a family that raised sheep for the wool trade. Over the years, and as economies changed, it had become a vineyard. Our travel coincided with the grape harvest and we were treated to watch them harvest the deep purple-blue grapes.

The chateau was large and had obviously grown over time. The original simple 2-story, rectangular home had sprouted courtyards and outbuildings and even a large barn. The courtyard entry gate was haunted by headless stone lions that were perched on limestone columns. The headless lions, I soon learned, had originally been topped with crowns demonstrating the original owners favor and support of the French monarchy. This support lasted at least until the start of the French Revolution when association with the king grew dangerous. Many homeowners and business either covered up signs of their relationship, or desecrated their existence. Whether the crowned heads were knocked off by angry peasants, or lopped off by a forward thinking owner, the headless lions tell a poignant and powerful tale of politics and intrigue. One striking truth I took from my trip was that this house was different from many homes in America, not just stylistically, but philosophically. It was clear that the mindset of this home, the way it had been constructed and even why it had been constructed, was based on an ideal and a philosophy that is different from the way we build homes today. This house was timeless and my new book, Building A Timeless House In An Instant Age, is an exploration of what a timeless house is and why we should all seek to build timeless homes today. My work in preservation and with clients across the country, has given me a perspective on building that is unique. I was trained in museum quality historic preservation, which taught me how to build with hand tools. Building with hand tools forces you through disciplines and habits that have been long lost. In fact, I think the art of building has been stripped from us through technology and greed. Technology removes the worker from the process of building. Improving tools ironically makes us less crafty. As tools improve the quality of our buildings slips. Greed, because what we build defines us. The homes we build tell a clear story of what we believe and value. Building a Timeless House is hard because too many people think they if the spend a lot of money they will get a great house. That too often isn’t true.

A Pause In Homebuilding Creates Opportunity To Re-Evaluate Our Values

During times of recession and changes in the industry of homebuilding, we have an awesome opportunity to build and remodel our houses differently. I think many people want to build with purpose; to build a house that reflects their morals and ideals. People want to build houses that are graceful and honest not showy and gaudy. We want to but we don’t know how. We have forgotten how to build beautiful homes that last.

The Timeless House Design

Timeless houses and timeless design is a way of building and method of construction that is different. Instead of seeking to build as cheap and fast as possible, we need to first determine how long we want it to last and then build accordingly. Sarah Susanka’s book The Not So Big House, strikes at the same cord of wise instead of wasteful building. I arrive at this idea not as an architect like Sarah, but as a preservationist and craftsman.

Homes built 200 years ago were built to last for 200 years. They achieved this because craftsmen were trained in long-standing building traditions and understood that the home would last longer. Simple tricks like building window sills that pitched water away from the home. Today, we try to overcome bad craftsmanship by making building products that are indestructible, like plastic. The environmental damage could be bypassed if we would just teach our builders how to build. 
Trademarks of A Timeless House

So what is a Timeless house? A timeless house has unique qualities and attributes. Here are a few of the qualities along with some ideas you can incorporate into your home:

1. Natural Materials -

Timeless houses use timeless materials. Timeless houses are built with simple, time-honored materials that have proven reliable for hundreds of years. They are not built from products invented in the last 20 years. Time honored materials are easily constructed and thus easily repaired. Siding is a good example. For hundreds of years wood siding has been used on homes. In the 1920’s up through today, new materials for siding have been heralded and championed only to fall out of favor to the latest “advancement”. Asbestos siding of the 30’s became aluminum siding in the 50’s. This was improved by vinyl siding in the 70’s which is today made obsolete by plastic or concrete. Ironically, all of these materials try look like and copy the original material, wood. The material on Timeless Houses are simple raw materials; stone, wood, tile, all natural products that don’t require a complex manufacturing process. These products are found locally and in turn they contribute to local style and regional character that encourages unique and timeless styling. The Cotswold region in England is universally loved and much of it is due to the local abundance of a wonderful honey-colored limestone. This natural material encouraged the craftsmen in stone work and determined the unique architectural details. By using timeless materials you avoid the ever changing fashion of some architectural elements.

2. Architectural Design is Organic -

Many of the classical styles we love are birthed from long-lasting building traditions and regional climates. They are not fads and are not driven by the “genius” of an individual. Timeless Houses have evolved due to regional and practical requirements. When the settlers arrived in New England they found bountiful and plentiful forests which naturally lead to houses built with wood detailing. The New England cape and Colonial homes have their unique characteristics because of the materials available and the climate of the region. Other organic design styling’s include northern homes have lower ceilings to keep in the heat, whereas houses in the south have higher ceilings because they were trying to keep cool. Looking back to Europe, houses in colder climates have steeper pitched roofs to handle snow loads, while houses near the Mediterranean have lower pitched roofs. These architectural elements and styles did not evolve by accident or whim. Instead they organically evolved to meet the needs of a region. Our houses become more timeless when they are built with an organic and regional methodology.

3. It Expresses Morals and Values of a Community -

What we build matters. Architecture defines us just as it defines every culture. Archeology proves this; when we study the Pyramids of Egypt we learn about Egyptians. We understand what they believed, and what they valued. We learn about their technology and even their class structure and how they lived. By understanding the pyramids we understand Egyptians. If we take this same lens of discovery and point it at ourselves, what do our homes say about us? What characteristics do they reveal? We need to carefully consider our homes because they define us. Historically, many architects wrote that if you wanted an honest community build honest buildings. Is it any surprise that the younger generation is entitled and self-focused? The buildings we revere are designed by highly-individualistic “starchitects” who often don’t think of the community but instead build monuments to themselves.

4. Philosophically Driven -

Nearly every great architectural style in America before 1940 is wrapped up in a philosophy or an ideal. The Greek revival style which lasts from the 1820’s-1850’s, evolved because America was a young and proud democratic country that desired to associate with the ancient Greek culture which was the first great democracy. We desired to build our homes and business in this style, we even renamed our cities, Athens and Troy in association. Sadly, the architectural style of our generation is curb appeal. An effort to build the most home for the least amount of money. It is no wonder this housing style is ridiculed with names like McMansion.
In 1781, Thomas Jefferson wrote in his journal that the state of building in Virginia was terrible because no builders knew how to “construct an order”. Now, by an order he meant an architectural order. He meant that builders couldn’t design and buildings were ugly. Over the rest of his life, Jefferson went on to change the face of architecture and building in Virginia and arguably America. Jefferson built and designed his home, the state house of Virginia and most famously the UVA campus. Despite our technology and “advanced” way of life, I believe we are in the same sad state that Jefferson noted in 1781. In our case we have forgotten how to build. We have lost the art of building and it is time to win it back. Studying the virtues of the timeless home is a start.
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