Poteaux-sur-sol is the name for the "posts-on-sill" style of French colonial architecture used by French and French-Canadian settlers in North America.
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Houses in this style in the present-day United States can be found in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri; Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, and former French settlements in Louisiana, all former parts of New France (La Louisiane). Most are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Maison Bolduc (see below) is a National Historic Landmark. Post on sill is a building style common to European vernacular architecture. For example, it was used by Ukrainians peasants living in the 19th century on the open steppes or anywhere there was a timber shortage.[1]
Red River Frame or poteaux sur sol (post on sill) was a popular building construction technique used in the Red River Settlement in the 19th Century. The building style was characterized by a dressed timber structure with a horizontal log infill. The spaces between the logs were filled or 'chinked' with clay and straw. The exterior would either be whitewashed with a limestone/water plaster mixture, or in later years, the exterior would be covered by board siding. This style was popular because it could use smaller trees for logs — the longest trees needed were for the vertical logs. The Farm Manager's House at Lower Fort Garry, the William Brown House at the Historical Museum of St James - Assiniboia, the historical Fur Warehouse at Fort St. James National Historic Site of Canada and Riel House in Winnipeg, Manitoba are excellent examples of Red River Frame construction.