533 – Multipurpose Building from Ecoteaux Vaud, early 19th Century
This ancillary building from the farm domain of Sonnay in the hamlet of La Combaz near Ecoteaux also served several purposes.
Architectural chameleon
Multipurpose buildings had the advantage that a single building could serve more than one purpose. This ancillary building from the farm domain of Sonnay in the hamlet of La Combaz near Ecoteaux also served several purposes. In the middle of the 19th century there was a “pinte”, a private tavern for young wine, on the ground floor, which had originally been the pig sty. Guests hitched their horses to an iron bar resting on stone posts in front of the building. The upper storey served as a woodshed and room for hired hands. Grain was stored in the roof space.
Purposeful and artful
The exterior appears as more than a mere utility building. The quarter hip roof, the decorative boarding of the balcony, the gallery in the guise of a veranda and the sandstone embrasures in the foundation walls express the self-assurance of Vaud grain farmers.
Farmer’s Taverns
The Austrians say they are “ausgesteckt”, in Germany they are lovingly known as outback bars or bouquet taverns or sweeper’s inns, the French cherish their “Beaujolais nouveau” here. Young wine is one of the joys of autumn, a milestone in the course of the year. In many wine-growing regions of Europe farmers were permitted short term to serve wine produced on their domains. They hung out green twigs before the stall or the shed that they had set up as a serving hall as a sign of business. Such broom bars are still popular. “Les Pintes” were temporary taverns which farmers of western Switzerland improvised after the wine harvest. Here, too, greenery hanging out told passers-by: Here you can quench your thirst and lust, here you can get drink and bread and cheese.
Ballenberg
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