Capelier, an history of a home
Toponyms & Location
Set in the commune of Plaisance (historically part of the merged parish of Mandacou), the property forms part of a historic hamlet officially divided into Le Capelier-Haut and Le Capelier-Bas.
The name Capelier stems from the Occitan word for "hatter" (capelier / capèl), pointing to an estate historically owned by a local hatmaker or land originally tied to ecclesiastical chapel holdings (capella).
Architectural Legacy & "La Maison de Laborde": Gascon Farmstead Origins
Long before Le Petit Capelier became a peaceful residential retreat, it was known in local oral tradition as "la maison des Laborde". The name carries deep roots in the regional identity of Gascony and the Dordogne. In the Gascon Occitan dialect, Laborde stems from La Borda, a term originally denoting a working timber barn, smallholding, or central farmstead.In rural Périgord, a borda was the beating heart of agrarian life—the primary shelter for crops, livestock, and the farming families who worked the surrounding land. Over time, as agricultural yield allowed for greater permanence and wealth, these timber and mud structures were rebuilt in solid stone, evolving from simple working outbuildings into substantial country residences.
Family Ties: The Laborde & Simounet Union
Parish and civil archives from Mandacou dating across the 18th and 19th centuries provide documentary proof of this transition. Records detail a web of land transfers and intermarriages between the Laborde and Simounet families.
As daughters and sons of the Laborde lineage married into the rising Simounet family—a household of civic stature and local bailiffs—the property shifted from a pure peasant smallholding into a prosperous gentleman’s farmstead. This generational union laid the groundwork for the house to be thoughtfully expanded, decorated, and preserved.
Périgordin Craftsmanship: Stone, Timber & Clay
Architecturally, the buildings at Le Petit Capelier are fine examples of rural Périgordin masonry built during the late 1700s and early 1800s: Pierre du Périgord: The main walls are crafted from thick, hand-cut local limestone, bound with lime mortar. These generous walls provided natural insulation—keeping the interiors cool during hot Gascon summers and retaining hearth warmth through chilly winter months.High-Pitched Rooflines:
The property features classic high-pitched roofs clad in traditional tuiles canal(terracotta barrel tiles), designed to shed heavy autumn rains swiftly while giving the longhouse its distinctive Périgordin silhouette.
The Longère Layout: The central structure reflects the traditional longère design—a single-story stone building built lengthwise along an axis, historically dividing domestic quarters from animal stalls and crop storage under a unified roof line.
Etched in History: The 1813 Napoleonic Cadastre
The architectural antiquity of the estate is formally recorded in the 1813 Napoleonic Cadastre (Cadastre Napoléonien) for the former commune of Mandacou. Surveyed over two centuries ago under Emperor Napoleon I’s directive to map French landholdings, the original hand-drawn parchment maps show the exact footprint of Le Capelier. The maps document the central longère alongside its courtyard outbuildings, proving that the structural integrity and layout seen at LPC today have stood largely unchanged for over 200 years.
Today, Le Petit Capelier carries this centuries-old story forward, offering a rare blend of deep Périgordin history and peaceful rural hospitality.
