Polly Pocket House / La Maison Sans Façade, France

Polly Pocket House is a collapsing farm house in northern France. The house sits alone, surrounded by farmland and accessed by an unkept driveway. In fact, the unmown driveway is barely discernible from the surrounding grassy fields. Overgrown vegetation surrounds the house, a tell-tale sign that the owners abandoned it a long time ago. Interestingly, the façade has fallen away, exposing four rooms across two floors at the front of the house. This allows you to stand outside and look in on the house, viewing the rooms almost like you were peering into a dolls house. For this reason, this location is often called “Polly Pocket House” in reference to the 90s children’s toys. Another name for this location is “La Maison Sans Façade”, or “The House Without a Front”.

I explored Polly Pocket House in the summer of 2023, during a delightful road trip around France.

A traditional French half-timbered home

It is a charming example of a traditional half-timbered home, an architectural style common in this region of northern France. Although the origins of this type of construction date back to the fourteenth century, this one is likely from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The house features a steeply pitched roof with dormer windows, another hallmark of Norman design. Its façade, or what’s left of it, beautifully showcases the half-timbered construction. The wooden beams (timbers) are exposed and painted in contrasting colours against the plastered sections. In this case, redish-brown timbers against yellow plaster.

Exploring inside this abandoned French farm house without a façade

Sometimes, when I arrive at a location, finding a way inside is the first part of the adventure. Clearly, this time at Polly Pocket House, the path inside is obvious. I clambered over the fallen portion of the façade and entered the dining room. This room has a nice, heavy wooden table, with an interesting red velvet upholstered infant high-chair next to it. There are two smaller rooms with some furniture, one has a radio on a small table and the other has another dining table and a writing bureau.

Upstairs, the corridor has some cute 1970s floral pattern wallpaper, in the traditional orange/brown/khaki colour scheme. The master bedroom exudes a charming vintage aesthetic. The pink bedding contrasts with the yellow walls, creating a colourful scene. There is a red and white patterned pillow featuring an image of a lady surrounded by roses. A small crucifix hangs above this bed, and dried plants are placed in one corner. Curiously, there’s fox fur laid out on the bed.

The final room, is the most beautiful (at least, to me). The entire wall has fallen away, giving a panoramic view of the green French countryside. The summers sun, filtered through some fortuitous clouds, create wonderful light and subtle shadows. The old bed has a tattered and moth-eaten sheet on it, and only a single pillow. Either side of the bed are night stands with lamps and some other belongings; a bible, a handbag, a framed picture, an ornamental horn on a plinth and a service bell. In front of one of the night stands is an old suitcase, seemingly all packed and ready to go.