_Houses and Hôtels, or Town-Houses of the Nobility._--The history of human habitations is a subject of such interest that to treat it adequately a special work would be necessary. Such an undertaking has, moreover, been admirably carried out by a famous architect.[71] [71] Ch. Garnier, Member of the Institute, whose picturesque embodiment of research, in his reconstruction of human habitations from the lacustrine period to our own times, attracted so much attention at the Exhibition of 1889. We must refrain from discussion of prehistoric or Merovingian dwellings, or of those rural hovels, the typical variations of which, in different countries and climates, offers so wide a field for study. To keep within the limits assigned us by the arbitrary term Gothic Architecture, we must confine our rapid sketch to the architectural period which dates from the middle of the twelfth to the close of the fifteenth century. [Illustration: 208. HOUSE AT CLUNY (TWELFTH CENTURY)] Nothing remains of habitations constructed in France before the twelfth century, save the vague and scanty records of ancient texts, manuscripts, and bas-reliefs. But we may reasonably infer that the houses of the period were built of wood, as was natural in a country containing great tracts of forest. We know that most of the important buildings were timber structures, which explains the fact that numbers of twelfth-century churches were founded on the sites of earlier buildings destroyed by fire. Roman, Gallo-Roman, and Merovingian houses were arranged to suit the habits of the times; they were lighted by windows opening upon an inner courtyard, in accordance with the ancient custom of separating the women's apartments from the rest of the habitation. [Illustration: 208A. HOUSE AT CLUNY (TWELFTH CENTURY)] But by the end of the twelfth century the urban dwelling was adapted to the needs of a family. The doors and windows of the house were made to overlook the street. The building consisted generally of a hall or shop, in which a handicraft was carried on, or manufactured goods were offered for sale. It was lighted by a wide arcade of round or pointed arches, and was either on a level with the street, or raised above it by the height of some few steps. A back room, opening upon a courtyard, served for kitchen and dining-room. To the left of the façade a little door gave access to a staircase which led to the first floor, where was a large _solar_ or living-room and an apartment overlooking the courtyard. Above these were the chambers occupied by the inmates of the house. [Illustration: 209, 210. HOUSES AT VITTEAUX (CÔTE D'OR), AND AT ST. ANTONIN (TARN ET GARONNE, THIRTEENTH CENTURY)]