In the ancient local Occitan language, the word Bori(e) meant an agricultural property or farm. It was adopted in the 1970s to denote the Périgord’s dry-stone huts, since the word “hut” was thought to be off-putting for tourists. Instead of beams, these constructions have an overhanging vault, are regular in the interior, and made solely of dry stones, without binder. Although sometimes part-furnished, they rarely contain all the necessary items such as fireplace, bench, sink or cistern. They were used above all as hen-houses, temporary shelters for hunters or shepherds, for storing agricultural implements, and occasionally as dwellings, such as those of Le Breuil at Saint André d’Allas.
They were used above all as hen-houses, temporary shelters for hunters or shepherds, for storing agricultural implements, and occasionally as dwellings, such as those of Le Breuil at Saint André d’Allas. Within their thick walls, they might shelter a hunter, a shepherd, and farm implements. At the end of a hard day’s work, the tiny skylights helped to keep the wine nice and fresh! At Daglan, the Maison de la Pierre Sèche (the Dry-Stone House) has a little museum devoted to the lives of the men who bequeathed us these architectural treasures.