551 – Farmhouse with pigeonry from Lancy Geneva, 1762/1796/1820

In 1762, the village of Lancy, today part of Geneva, lay in the middle of vineyards. The Chaulet family had a wine press built there. Stones were gathered from the vicinity and used for the walls. The rear wall of the present kitchen incorporates the former door arch: the keystone from 1762 is in the upper storey. The small building sufficed for pressing the annual grape harvest.

In 1820 a big working space was added onto the farmhouse. This time the inside upper walls were made of stamped earth. In contrast to other multipurpose houses, this one was not for self-sufficiency but for catering to the market. Up to fifty head of cattle could be accommodated in the long stalls. They were kept in what was then a rational manner, fattened and sold for slaughter. The walled yard for the animals corresponds to present-day open shed stalling. The farmhands were less fortunate – they had to do with less: They no longer had a parlour but in recompense a living kitchen similar to those in Mediterranean regions. The owners kept their distance. They lived 200 metres (656 feet) away in a separate house, well apart from the aromas of the farmyard.