Images of French country property 1965-1975
It was in the 1960s that the migration from the French countryside led to many old cottages, farmhouses and manoirs being abandoned and then put up for sale. At that time these properties were still in their original condition, with little or nothing changed since the 19th and 18th centuries, when they were first built and occupied.


Primitive living
The properties had no running water or drains, no WC, kitchen or bathroom. Cooking and heating was provided by a large open fireplace in the main room. Livestock would be living in adjoining stables and barns.


Step back in time
This is how the photographer found these properties in the late 1960s and how he stepped back in time while recording homes that had housed both man and beast over centuries. As these photographs show, these are houses of much character. Although many were by then abandoned, they all bore witness to upwards of two centuries of occupation in a primitive rural environment.


Is your house among these?


To view the pictures, click on Gallery