Village Character Above and Beyond the Buildings– a Tour of Small French Villages

Au-delà de l'architecture - à la découverte de l'âme des petits villages français

This article was originally published in the International Division of APA's InterPlan

---

Across the United States, many plans and ordinances discuss historic character or community character as something to protect. However, definitions of character are few and elusive, or when tackled are either complex or missing vital elements. As character is indeed complex, many places are hesitant to pursue the topic, especially as they see it as exclusively aesthetics. I seek here, not to provide a concrete definition of character, but hopefully to 1) add clarity as to why preserving character can be important for communities beyond aesthetics, 2) add some considerations often omitted in many definitions or reviews of what character might entail. The source for this discussion is a quick tour through several small villages in France.

Photo 1. Chinon: White, chalky stone, slate or similarly colored tile roofs (rectilinear pattern)

Photo 2. Auvergne: Brown, volcanic stone, red tile roofs (non-rectilinear pattern)

Photo 3. Rocamadour: Light-colored, mixed stone, Slate, some tile roofs (non-rectilinear pattern)

Photo 4. Sarlat: Yellow, chalky stone, slate, or similarly colored tile roofs (non-rectilinear pattern)

Classic discussions of character usually involve architecture and building materials – occasionally an iconic park or set of features. Certainly, that is abundantly visible from village to village as one travels through the back roads of France. Examples shown above, but note specifically the materials, the blending of old and new construction, as well as the use of space.

Photo 5. Sarlat: Art Museum on the right. Accent wall behind the tree blends the otherwise VERY modern building with its neighbors.

It is important to note the abundance of old and new construction intermixed. Yet, it all contributes to the same character. Colors blend, and accents can serve to connect the styles while avoiding the exorbitant cost of remaking an entire stone wall in the traditional way (note below the accent wall on the art museum in Sarlat). Also, the space between the buildings is part of the character – sometimes narrow, sometimes inconsistent, but then the irregular pattern IS the pattern. A formal, rectilinear Georgian street in England or US streetgrid is in direct contrast, not worse, just a defining pattern.

Photo 6. Rocamadour, France

Most importantly, character goes beyond the architecture and the parks. It is not merely the look. Rather it is a community dialog, an obligation to and a support of the neighbors and the community. It is also a key to survival of these villages over time. Without the allure of the community character to attract new residents, there is no way sustaining these villages through tourism alone. So character leads to sustainability and viability over time.

Fleury: Rectilinear-ish grid, with allees, leading to farmland

I was not intending to write an article during my visit, so I did not have convenient access to the records for the centuries of history involved. Allow me to illustrate the “other aspects” of character through my discussions with local residents and deductions to generate a narrative that seems logical and reasonable about a small Burgundian village called Fleury-la-Vallee. From the architectural and pattern review used above, the buildings have an off-white chalky stone, with brick trim and red tile or red wood shingles. The village pattern is more rectilinear than all of the villages above except Chinon.

Fleury: New construction blending with old, more rectilinear street pattern

Fleury is defined as much by its ancient connections to farmland fields as its architecture. There were no real “central squares” in Fleury. The connections were in the form of vegetated allees that acted as windbreaks between farm fields, but more importantly now act as the lifeblood of the village, with dozens of families strolling along them after their weekend meals. These allees were also paths for drainage ways and creeks – an ancient green infrastructure that was home to roe deer and small animals, as well as myriads of quasi-wild fruit trees. This organic edible landscape arose from centuries of farmers throwing their pits into the allees while they were working, which support the “critters” – and now the neighbors. I was treated to a tarte from free-range Mirabelle plums. The allees and the streets connecting to them were not trash dumps. Care and attention were given to add beauty and amenity for the neighborhood. Residents told me that this was why they moved there rather than Auxerre, where they worked, or the neighboring village which was struggling for survival.

Photo 8. Fleury: Vegetated allees windbreak and define farmland and act as community walking trails

Thus, there were no government studies or federal programs that anyone was aware of that generated the elements of the narrative: no greenways initiatives, no edible landscaping effort. So, even if there were, residents were living and acting without recognition of them. Thus, these villages grew up and evolved organically, over centuries, adapting to needs and diverse input over time. Admittedly, there were laborious standards for “bricolage” or “fixing up” older homes to avoid losing the village character from a larger element perspective – materials, designs, etc. The government standards generated not a small amount of grumbling, but the residents chose to live in their little villages BECAUSE of that character, allowing those villages to continue far beyond the viability of the agrarian economy that built them centuries earlier.

Fleury: Attention to detail in back streets and allees

Lunch with neighbors and mirabelle plum tarte!