The avenue du 8 mai 1945 is lined with houses that are typical of 19th century Nogent artisan-worker housing. They are narrow, lined up against each other and separated by a party wall. Looking more closely at the houses from nos. 17 to 23, the facade can be broken down level by level. On the ground floor, 1 or 2 3-pane double windows, taller than they are wide, are arranged on either side of the entrance door. A bull's eye may illuminate the stone sink, the drainpipe of which can sometimes still be seen on the facade. The entrance to the cellar is generally under the window. Upstairs, one or two windows, identical to those on the ground floor and generally plumb with them. Under the eaves, two small rectangular openings, designed to light the attic. They are also flush with the other openings. The most comfortable houses have a higher floor. There are 3 types of rendering typical of this period: either thin rendering based on lime and sand from a local quarry, as seen here, or "pierre vue", meaning that only the centre of the stone is visible, or "jetés au balais", meaning that the rendering was sprayed onto the wall with a broom made of twigs, giving it the appearance of plaster. |Behind these houses, you can imagine a very long plot of garden, occupied by a vegetable garden with, sometimes, a henhouse, hutches... |Many Nogent districts have this type of house. On the other side of the street, in a more affluent style, you can see two foremen's pavilions. They date from the 1930s, when the nearby Minel factory was being built; now demolished, it employed up to 460 workers.
Maison d'ouvrier du XIXème siècle
