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Guides and land stories

Remarkable land

Each page starts from a plot in the French cadastre and tells what was built on it, with dates, areas and the IGN aerial view.

In Poissy, above the Seine, a 1931 house on pilotis in a one-hectare meadow
Editor's pick · Poissy, YvelinesIn Poissy, above the Seine, a 1931 house on pilotis in a one-hectare meadowA weekend house finished in 1931, threatened with demolition after the war, listed as a historic monument in 1965 and a World Heritage site since 2016.Read the story →
In the Galaure valley, a stone palace built in a kitchen garden from 1879 to 1912
Hauterives, DrômeIn the Galaure valley, a stone palace built in a kitchen garden from 1879 to 1912Built by the postman Ferdinand Cheval, listed as a historic monument in 1969, owned by the commune since 1994.Read the story →
In the Entre-deux-Mers, above the Ségur, a whole commune in 103 plots
Castelmoron-d'Albret, GirondeIn the Entre-deux-Mers, above the Ségur, a whole commune in 103 plotsOnce the seat of a seneschal's court, home to 50 people at the 2023 census, and mapped by the cadastre as a single section.Read the story →

Our editorial pact

Choosing the places
We pick places whose land explains their history: the plot, its slope, its soil or its boundaries decided what was built there. No place pays to appear in this section, and no link is sponsored.
Facts
Dates, areas and names come from the French culture ministry's records, IGN, INSEE, public archives or the place itself. Each page lists its sources with links. What we cannot check, we do not write.
Plot figures
The cadastral reference, area, zoning, elevation and solar yield are read from public data on the day of publication: the cadastre, the Géoportail de l'Urbanisme, Géorisques and PVGIS. The reading date is given under the table.
Facts and opinion
"Our view" is the only part where the editors give their opinion. It adds no new facts: everything it mentions appears above, with its source.
Images
The aerial views come from IGN under an open licence, with the plot outline drawn by OpenParcels. No third-party photograph is published without its author's written permission and a credit.
Corrections
An error reported by a reader or by the place is corrected, and the page's update date changes. To reach us: redaction@openparcels.eu.

Aerial photographs: IGN, BD ORTHO, Licence Ouverte. Plot outlines: French cadastral plan (DGFiP, IGN).