Miscellaneous desk
< March 21	<< Feb \| March \| Apr >>	March 23 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

March 22

Odd architectural design in France

I recently travelled past the building in this picture. While not common, I did see some other examples of this kind of thing elsewhere in the region. What possible reason would you have for extending upper floor rooms out in such a manner and supporting them on slender concrete columns? I can imagine perhaps doing it if built on a steep hill or over a cliff, but the examples I saw (including the one in my example) were in relatively flat areas. Astronaut (talk) 20:27, 22 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I wonder if it's a zoning/taxation issue. For example, if they are assessed based on the square footage of the ground floor, this approach might make sense. StuRat (talk) 03:01, 23 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Is that a watercourse at the bottom right of the picture? It might be a protection against potential flooding. -- Arwel Parry (talk) 10:27, 23 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It's relatively common in English Tudor houses, where the arrangement was known as a jetty. The exact reasoning behind building houses like this seems to have been lost, but it certainly offers the benefit of a wider space in the street below (especially when houses are built right up to the street edge), as well as meaning that a larger living area can be placed on a plot of a given size. This would be an advantage in the medieval cities where space was at a premium and the cost per square foot quite high. As Stu mentions, if the tax was based on the size of the plot, that would be an additional incentive to keep the ground floor as small as possible and put the largest space above.

As for the house in your picture, though, I can't see any particular feature necessitating a small ground floor, and since it seems to be in the country I doubt if land prices are the reason. As it looks a relatively modern house (at least the upper parts do - maybe C20th additions?) my own money would be on the design simply being like that for its own, aesthetic, sake. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 11:00, 23 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It's on top of a river that swells dramatically when the snows melt. The house is squeezed between the highway and the river; it must be a thrilling view to be atop the big river when it's roaring. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 14:56, 23 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, cancel that! From fr:Livet-et-Gavet, translated by Google: "the office of Charles Albert Keller, from which he could observe all of its workshops and factories located on both sides of the river.". Keller was a 20th century industrialist; his factories produced calcium carbide for acetylene. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 15:04, 23 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The "jetty" structures in medieval european buildings did indeed come from an effort to increase the living area of the upper floors of the building where land was scarce. In some cities, the jetties stuck out so far that they'd be within 6" of meeting over the center of the street! However, this modern version doesn't seem to be that. SteveBaker (talk) 20:07, 25 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Do you by jetties mean flying butresses? μηδείς (talk) 23:09, 25 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

No, I've found you a picture. Our Jetty (disambiguation) page directs you to Overhang (architecture) which is rather American-centric. I was told that it served to stop the middle of the upper floor from sagging. I'll look for a source. Alansplodge (talk) 13:24, 26 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, I missed Jettying that tells all. Apparently, a house with this feature is called a Garrison house in the US. Alansplodge (talk) 13:53, 26 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

va benifits

I was in the u.s. department of commerce coast and geodetic survey, I would like to know if I'm eligble for veterans hospital benifits? I was in from june 1961 to sept. 1963. thanks1 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.137.116.40 (talk) 20:57, 22 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You can check your VA benefits elegibility HERE. It looks like it requires that you are a veteran of either active or reserve duty military. Livewireo (talk) 21:56, 22 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]