Urban Exploration - The Sadia House

We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.

Here is a visit to an abandoned house located in a tiny village in the Gard. We knew nothing of this dwelling (not even its contents) and after the exploration, we come away empty-handed regarding its historical narrative. It is somewhat of a pity. A visit in images, but too little history.

The house is typical of the coal-mining region of the Gard: several stories high and very large. The ground floor is not necessarily occupied by the same family as the one upstairs; separate entrances exist. In this particular case, we noted three cellars.

The building was occupied by a large family: the Chaourars. When you consider the vast variability in spelling—which, in the end, is merely a Latin transcription—you can imagine the difficulty of identification. We noted the name Sadia, who handled administrative matters, and Houria, who was taking childcare classes (it seemed to be from quite some time ago).

The family must have been large, given the number of beds, which made the rooms look almost like dormitories.

The current situation suggests that the family took everything small and portable, leaving behind everything bulky—the furniture. This explains why the house is fully furnished yet lacks any "family archaeology." A move abroad? At first glance, people found this place horribly ugly. On the contrary, I found it full of color and quite an atmosphere.

The abandonment dates back to 2014. Since then, the house has been put up for auction by the State. Given the price and the absolutely considerable damage, no one wants it. The neighbors mention having seen no one for years. There isn't even an entrance left; one has to hack a fierce path through the brambles.