Old building methods

Our friends bought their house for a song and had the price further reduced as there was so much rubbish to clear. Two years later the house is partially habitable and soon to go on the market. It looks modest but is 6oo square metres over four floors with fantastic views. It is one of the oldest houses in the vieux village and goes back 1000 years. There is evidence that at some point the house belonged to the judge and that the building next door was a prison. It has an exterior stone staircase and a small part of a previous street or courtyard inside the house. It is the only maison à colombage (half timbered) in the village and the only one with evidence of a pigeon loft, thought to be used by the judge for sending messages concerning his judgements. The construction is little more than wattle and daub. In the UK it would be a listed building but here, it is just an old village house waiting for someone with an awful lot of spare cash to restore it. It is still probably worth less than a new family saloon.