Urban Exploration - The Arthur Naussac House
We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.
Research Assistance: Jean-Pierre Huron, Claude Barrère, Fab Sella, Fabienne Moulis.
This is a house I had noticed a long time ago. Its formidable inaccessibility had long kept it in the "unsolved mysteries" category. It sits at the end of a tiny, narrow, and steep dead-end, directly facing neighbors. That’s manageable—everything can be explained, especially in the context of "family archaeology." But above all, it was the immense, impenetrable wall of brambles that posed the real question.
Then one day, it finally happened: I went there. And I must say, I nearly gave up. The vegetation is just... intensely hostile!
After crawling and clearing my way through, I managed with some difficulty to reach the base of the dwelling. There, two more surprises awaited. I had to climb because the staircase no longer exists—it’s quite hazardous. Furthermore, the devastated entrance was blocked with a table that had been wedged from the inside. When I handled the table, it fell to pieces.
No one has been inside for a very, very, very, very long time.
The interior reveals a weary, rather rustic, and outright tiny place. An old-fashioned house. There are virtually no documents available, just a single school notebook in the name of Arthur NAUSSAC. That was the only clue. Everything present in the house—even a packet of noodles—is unrecognizable because it’s so old. Extraordinary.
An Ongoing Investigation
The house was owned by Adrien NAUSSAC, who married Eulalie NICOLAS on January 9, 1897, in Banne. They had one child: Arthur NAUSSAC. Arthur Antoine Lucien NAUSSAC was born on November 9, 1897, in Saint-Florent-sur-Auzonnet. Note how fast things moved—married and a child within the same year!
In 1917, Arthur measured 1.63m (5'4"), with chestnut hair, brown eyes, a medium forehead, a hooked nose, and a long face. He was declared a mason. He was enlisted on January 9, 1916—on his parents' wedding anniversary—into the 7th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins (mountain infantry).
He was killed on October 7, 1918, in Morcourt, Aisne—just one month before the Armistice. His short life—nearly 21 years—was entirely a matter of dates.
He is mentioned on the war memorial in the cemetery; these are the final photos of this report. Above is his grave (photo sourced from Geneanet cemetery inventories).
On the 1936 census, we find listed Adrien NAUSSAC and Adèle NAUSSAC, wife, born in 1868 and 1872 respectively. This is likely Eulalie’s middle name, though it cannot be confirmed. Also listed in a second dwelling is a Rose NAUSSAC, born in 1868.
There is no further trace of the Naussacs after this. I have no access to the registers at the departmental archives due to the 75-year privacy limit. At most, we can imagine the house was abandoned in the 1940s or 50s. This says nothing about what might have happened there afterward—a copy of the Midi Libre newspaper dated 1991 was found, which could suggest some form of temporary occupation, but it is certain that it hasn't been "inhabited" as a home since 1950. Interestingly, the last calendar in the house dates to 1942.
Later, I received information via the "successions and absences" tables that Eulalie passed away on November 14, 1945. The record mentions she was a widow. Adrien had passed away on April 19, 1936, at the age of 68.
Claude Barrère established Arthur’s lineage across six generations, tracing back to Jean Naussac and Marie Lieussane in the 18th century. Logically, we can expect about 75 years of abandonment, which matches the general state of the building.
Today, the house belongs through inheritance to André R., a resident of this fairly large town. The damage to the house is so severe and the land value so negligible that it is easy to understand why nothing is being done and why the abandonment is absolute.
