What sets a genuine Toulousaine apart from an ordinary old house is its walls. Here, the load-bearing walls are 40 to 50 cm thick and are built in brique foraine, the wide, flat brick made from the clay of the Toulouse region for centuries.
One point of full disclosure, because it matters: the brick is fired earth in the lower sections and becomes progressively mixed — fired and unfired earth — further up. This is the traditional building method of the region: fired earth, indifferent to damp, where the wall is exposed to rising ground moisture; unfired earth, lighter and thermally even better, in the upper sections protected by the roof and the render.
Street side, garden side and on the eastern party wall. Solid brick, with no cavity or infill.
Over three levels: ground floor, first floor and convertible attic. About 9 metres at the ridge.
A solid earth wall 40 to 50 cm thick stores heat during the day and releases it slowly at night. In summer the house holds the morning cool until late in the day, with no air conditioning. In winter it absorbs temperature swings instead of suffering them.
The unfired earth of the upper walls adds a quality that fired brick does not have: it is hygroscopic. The wall absorbs excess moisture from the air and gives it back when the air dries, which naturally regulates the indoor atmosphere. In return, this kind of masonry asks one thing: that the walls stay dry. That is exactly what a roof renewed in 2005 and intact render provide.
This is what explains an energy rating (DPE) of D for energy and B for climate on a 319 m² house with no added insulation — a result few old buildings of this size achieve. See the full energy rating.
On a 14 × 15 m footprint, the ridge reaches about 9 metres. That is what gives the house its interior volumes: high ceilings on the ground floor and the first floor alike, and an attic of 210 m² floor area of which 121 m² has more than 1.80 m of headroom.
It also explains why the 319 m² of living space is a conservative figure. Over two full levels of 210 m² footprint, less the 28 m² garage, the built envelope comes close to 390 m²; it is the sheer thickness of the walls and the circulation space that bring the habitable area down to 319 m². The convertible attic comes on top of that.
In 2005, the roof covering was entirely renewed : the old covering was stripped off, a roofing underlay was laid over the whole frame, then new tiles.
A roofing underlay is a membrane laid between the frame and the tiles. It forms a second waterproofing line : a tile that shifts, driving rain pushed by the wind, powder snow blown under the courses — none of it reaches the frame or the floors. It is a feature that the great majority of unrenovated old houses do not have, their tiles resting directly on the battens.
On this house the benefit is twofold. By protecting the structure against infiltration for the long term, this membrane guarantees exactly what unfired earth walls need: to stay dry. New roof and earth masonry form a coherent whole here.
The tiles laid are, moreover, three times lighter than the old ones. The permanent load carried by the frame was therefore reduced accordingly — a considerable relief on a pitched roof covering 14 × 15 metres, and a further factor in the longevity of the heart-of-oak frame.
The house is attached on both sides : the classic configuration of old village housing, and it has its advantages. Party walls reduce heat loss, the house sits right in the village with every shop within walking distance, and the south-east facing garden is not overlooked.
In fairness: while the eastern party wall is the same thickness as the façade walls, the western party wall, more recent, is only 15 to 20 cm thick. It is the one weak point of the envelope, and we would rather say so up front than let you discover it on site.
€469,000
Sold directly by the owners, no agency commission
All serious offers will be considered.