When Buildings Could Talk

The best thing about writing this blog is that I learn something new with every post. That was exactly what happened last week when I wrote about the colombage buildings in Alsace. After I had finished most of the text I found a video to finish the post with. In that video, Frederick, a young Alsatian, talked about restoring a colombage barn and house, and because it was in French I included a brief translation of his main points. What I didn’t tell you is that toward the end Frederick mentioned that there were symbols hidden in the timber framing of his house. He claimed that the original owner of the house was extremely  interested in having a large family, and that this message could be 'read' in the colombage.

Colombage Redux

Earlier this year I wrote about the colombage buildings in northern France, particularly the beautiful houses in Rouen. (If you want to read that post please click on the word 'colombage' in the labels list at the right.) But we just returned from a trip to Alsace in eastern France, an area that is widely thought to have the largest number of preserved wood-framed structures from the 15th to 17th centuries.