Vaud: a 16th century peasant house avoids demolition

“The vast majority of buildings in our towns and villages carry grades 3 or 4, which fall under municipal jurisdiction. But municipalities must protect their heritage. If they are not careful, we try to protect what we can with Swiss heritage.» Archaeologist and member of the Vaudois committee of the national association, Jean-Blaise Gardiol is delighted with a recent judgment from the Court of Administrative and Public Law of the Canton of Vaud (CDAP). In a ruling dated December 5, 2024, it canceled the permit for the demolition of a peasant house, issued by the municipality of Valbroye.

In 2022, the owner of this property in the La Lembaz district, in Granges-près-Marnand, requested its demolition. “The peasant house, whose origins undoubtedly date back to the end of the 16th^e century (according to the date of 1599 preserved on a lintel decorated with rosettes and geometric motifs), appears in all cases on the cadastral plan of the commune surveyed in 1674-1675,” states its architectural census sheet.

Major urban interest

Neighboring La Lembaz, a tributary of the Broye, this house and its neighbors are located on a spur, presenting major urban planning interest. The study of cadastral surveys shows a consistency of this organization since 1674, but it is certainly older given the remains found in the district. And the village is included in the Federal Inventory of built sites of national importance to be protected (ISOS) as an urbanized village marked by the course of the Lembe and linked to the use of hydraulic power.

Despite an unfavorable opinion from the Division of Monuments and Sites of the canton of Vaud, the municipality issued the demolition permit. At the same time, the owner requested permission to build a building with five housing units, as well as seven parking spaces and a play area on small neighboring plots.

Their opposition having been lifted, the owner of the neighboring terraced house and Swiss Heritage did not hear it that way, taking the matter to court. A hearing with local inspection was thus conducted on site by the CDAP, in June 2023. According to the appellants, the construction of three housing units made it possible to respect the position of the dividing walls.

While the owner relied on a report indicating an unfavorable structural condition of the building, Swiss Heritage considered it possible to maintain it. The court then requested a complete expertise from an engineering firm. Submitted in July 2024, the document stipulates that there is no crippling static defect in the rubble walls. The building is compatible with a restoration, even if the frame of the barn and the stable, in the lower part of the property, must be redone. These arguments convinced the court.

Assets before finances

It then remained to answer the question of the cost of the work. “It is not impossible that maintaining the building for the benefit of a major renovation is likely to generate greater costs […]which influences the profitability of the real estate transaction,” mentions the judgment. However, such a case has already been judged by the Federal Court. “The financial interest of the builder must give way to the financial interest in the protection of the disputed building,” insists the Vaud court.

The CDAP’s judgment can be contested at the Federal Court. The owner must pay a fee of 3000 francs, compensation for costs of 2500 francs. to the appellants and finance the expertise costs for more than 15,500 francs.

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