The oldest house in France is thought to be Maison de Jeanne - or House of Joan. The house is notable for its unusual appearance where the upper floors look large compared to the first (or ground) floor. The Maison de Jeanne is more than just an old house, it is a living reminder of a very different life of a world gone by.

While in southern France, take the time to discover the unusual cliff-hanging houses of Pont-en-Royans. These are also very historic French homes that are stunningly set at the base of the French Alps (check out the unusual Museum of Water there too). If one is interested in ancient Roman ruins, then the Pont du Gard in the south of Franch is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge and is often considered the most spectacular still standing today.

UPDATE: 2022/11/11 10:20 EST BY AARON SPRAY

The Oldest Buildings In The USA

Naturally, France and the rest of Europe has older buildings than the USA, but the USA also has old buildings of its own worth seeing. This article was updated to discuss some of the oldest buildings in the United States. The oldest dwelling in France is around 700 years old and the oldest in the USA is as much as 500 years old.

Age of The Maison de Jeanne

It is considered the oldest house in Sévérac-le-Château, Aveyron, France - and possibly the whole country (it is difficult to exactly date many of the oldest buildings). It was built sometime in the 1300s and was dated using a dendrochronology analysis (where corings in the timbers in the structure were analyzed).

  • Age: Built during the 1300s - Around 700 Years Old

The Hundred Years War between England and France raged off and on between 1337 and 1453. That means the Maison de Jeanne was built before or during the Hundred Years' War before France was truly France. It was already built by the time the famous French heroine Joan of Arc came and lead the French to victory against the English (lived around 1412 and 1431).

Related: New Paltz Is Home To The Oldest Inhabited Street In The U.S.

The Unusual Design Of The Oldest House

The reason why the ground floor is a little smaller than the upstairs is that in medieval France one only paid taxes for occupied land. In the French province of Aveyron, the taxes of a home were calculated by the amount of land that the first floor occupied. So use as little land as possible but make upper stories and make them larger to cut down on taxes.

  • Taxes: Used To Be Paid In Accordance With the Land the Ground Floor Occupied
  • Design: The Upper Stories Are Larger To Avoid Paying So Much Tax

The home is named after its last occupant - an artist called Jeanne (so it is unknown what the first owners were called).

The Maison de Jeanne is built with a timber frame and the walls and constructed out of cob. Cob is a building material made from subsoil, water, straw, and sometimes lime. It was useful for being fireproof, able to withstand earthquakes, and cheap. But it was also a very labor-intensive source of building material.

  • Built Of: Cob With A Timber Frame
  • Animals: The Home Residents Likely Lived With Their Animals Inside The Building

The house has two stories and has a vaulted cellar that contained feed troughs. The feed troughs suggest that originally the homeowners lived with their animals on the lower floor. It is also known that the building's exterior was clad in stone.

The entrance to the house is by steps that are sheltered by the overhanging first floor. Observers will also note the small size of the windows (one of which is oval).

Related: Why You Should Spend A Day In Shakespeare's Quaint Home Town Of Stratford-Upon-Avon

Renovation And Seeing The Maison de Jeanne

Hopefully, Maison de Jeanne will be standing for many more years to come. In 2019 repairs and renovations were cared out on the building. The roof was originally made of slate titles. Each of these titles was taken off, carefully measured with new replacements cut and sized. Inside, authentic lime plaster was used.

  • Renovated: In 2019
  • Address: n° 10 rue de Belvezet is on the corner of Passage de l'Hospice

If one is passing through southern France, take time to detour and see the country's oldest building and the story it tells. Imagine a time when people lived with their animals inside the building and where upper stories were larger to avoid tax.

If one can visit, one can enjoy a virtual tour and introduction to the house on YouTube in a show 2-minute video (the narration is in French).

There are guided tours of the house and one should check the calendar before planning one's visit. The Maison de Jeanne holds medieval events in July and August (the doors are open to the public on these occasions).

Related: Discover Puerto Rico's Old San Juan - The Oldest In The USA

What's The Oldest Building In The United States?

Not everyone can visit Europe - so what is the oldest building in the United States? The oldest buildings are ancient Native American dwellings, but when it comes to settler-period buildings, it is a little complicated. This is because the United States has grown over time, and not everyone may even agree on what is the United States.

The oldest surviving building in New York City is believed to be the Wyckoff House. It was among the first structures built on Long Island, and it was built as early as 1652 by the Dutch when New York was a Dutch colony.

  • Wyckoff House: Built 1652

The oldest European building in the core United States is Palace of The Governors in Santa Fe in New Mexico. It was built by the early Spanish in around 1610 as they pushed into New Mexico and sought to trade with the Native Americans in the region.

  • Palace of The Governors in Santa Fe: Built Circa 1610

But the oldest European-era building in the United States is Casa Blanca in Old San Juan of Puerto Rico. This long predates the English settlement of North America which would one day grow into the United States. Casa Blanca was built in 1521.