Seeking a Beautiful Traditional Basque House to Sketch

[Stephan the Painter]

The perfect Basque house to sketch?

I’m starting from SJPP tomorrow (April 3, 2024) and I’m looking for a scenic Basque style house to sketch. I will walk to Valcarlos for the night.
So somewhere between there and Pamplona along the trail or in any of the Camino towns I’ll be looking for that house: big and white with those beautiful red shutters!

Anything come to mind? Post photos if can, but don’t go through too much trouble. Thank you!

 

[naplesdon]

I would contact Jean-Jacques Etchandy, the owner of Orisson, for his suggestion.

 

[OTH86]

Quite a few (IMHO) in the first two towns after Roncesevalles ...

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I walked the Valcarlos route and here are a couple of traditional Basque houses I took pictures of. They are known to use a white stucco exterior with large stone corners. These were before Pamplona. I never saw any red shutters once I left SJPdP; possibly because it is on the French side of the Pyrenees, not in Basque country.

 

[shefollowsshells]

The perfect Basque house to sketch?

I’m starting from SJPP tomorrow (April 3, 2024) and I’m looking for a scenic Basque style house to sketch. I will walk to Valcarlos for the night.
So somewhere between there and Pamplona along the trail or in any of the Camino towns I’ll be looking for that house: big and white with those beautiful red shutters!

Anything come to mind? Post photos if can, but don’t go through too much trouble. Thank you!

In Saint Etienne de Baigorry there is a lovely home on the river that hangs ham tied up in beautiful cloth from their porch!!!! I’d draw it if I drew- lol

I might be able to get you the contact of the owner as they housed a refuge from a war torn country who we hung out with for two amazing days when we hiked through there!

I just noticed I’m off your route, but will keep my post in place so others might get to marvel at the beauty if they ever go there…

 

[OCHAR]

I walked the Valcarlos route and here are a couple of traditional Basque houses I took pictures of. They are known to use a white stucco exterior with large stone corners. These were before Pamplona. I never saw any red shutters once I left SJPdP; possibly because it is on the French side of the Pyrenees, not in Basque country.
View attachment 167221View attachment 167222

There IS a Basque Country on the French side of the Pyrénées !

 

[Camino Chrissy]

There IS a Basque Country on the French side of the Pyrénées !

You are correct! Still, I did not notice red shuttered houses after leaving SJPdP...maybe someone else has "photos" for the OP with red shutters since that is what he requested (after Valcarlos, but before Pamplona).
I wonder if the French side of the Pyrenees speaks the Basque language. I often learn something new on this forum.

 

[Lovebubble]

You are correct! Still, I did not notice red shuttered houses after leaving SJPdP...maybe someone else has "photos" for the OP with red shutters since that is what he requested (after Valcarlos, but before Pamplona).
I wonder if the French side of the Pyrenees speaks the Basque language. I often learn something new on this forum.

They most certainly speak Basque in the three provinces of the Pays Basque. When I first moved to Hendaye a Basque friend told me that the three provinces north of the border (Labourd, Basse Navarre and Soule) are referred to as Basques Nord and the four provinces in Spain are Basque Sud. Pays Basque is Pays Basque, neither French or Spanish!

 

[lalaone]

I reviewed my photos and could not find red shutters past St Jean Pied de Port. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough? Interestingly, this article about Basque architecture talks about different styles which correspond to the provinces mentioned by Lovebubble. The white with red shutters looks like "Labourdine" to me.

Basque houses have timeless appeal – we look at their history​

 

[JimDerry]

Something like this?? Akerreta, just outside of Larrasoana has some nice places.

 

[David Tallan]

This is the best I can do:

 

[Camino Chrissy]

@David Tallan, your 2nd picture is the same as one of my two, but yours has a vast amount of red flowers in window boxes.

 

[Mendizale]

Basque language speaker here... We refer to the basque 3 provinces to the north of the border as Iparralde (the north) and the 4 to the south of the border as Hegoalde (the south). Those farm houses with red or green windows are typically from the Iparralde's western region, province of Lapurdi. Of course there are basque speakers in Iparralde, but as you may know "regional languages" in France haven't any official status and that has had consequences with language prestige... In Hegoalde, in areas where euskera is official (Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, Araba and the north of Navarra) you can even do your university studies in euskera. But it's getting difficult to implement language policies for basque speakers...

 

[David Tallan]

Basque language speaker here... We refer to the basque 3 provinces to the north of the border as Iparralde (the north) and the 4 to the south of the border as Hegoalde (the south). Those farm houses with red or green windows are typically from the Iparralde's western region, province of Lapurdi. Of course there are basque speakers in Iparralde, but as you may know "regional languages" in France haven't any official status and that has had consequences with language prestige... In Hegoalde, in areas where euskera is official (Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, Araba and the north of Navarra) you can even do your university studies in euskera. But it's getting difficult to implement language policies for basque speakers...

For what it's worth, the red window houses in my photos are from Hegoalde, as I started that Camino in Roncesvalles (Orreaga). So, while they predominate in Lapurdi, they aren't limited to that region.

 

[Mendizale]

For what it's worth, the red window houses in my photos are from Hegoalde, as I started that Camino in Roncesvalles (Orreaga). So, while they predominate in Lapurdi, they aren't limited to that region.

I understand what you're saying, but that house with the red windows is still Lapurdi style for any of us. Let me explain: in the area where I live, in Goierri in Gipuzkoa, there is a house with a very similar style, which is called Sara, not by chance. Ordered to be built by the great ethnologist Don Joxe Migel Barandiaran after returning back home (Ataun ) from the town that welcomed him, Sara, in Lapurdi.That after having had to flee to the other side of the border when the civil war began. I am convinced that the house you have photographed will have its particular history connected to the province of Lapurdi.

 

[Mendizale]

I wonder if the French side of the Pyrenees speaks the Basque language. I often learn something new on this forum.

@Camino Chrissy I hope this book reference can help. It is in french.