Pebble walls

Cobbles are virtually the only material used in the walls of Ibos’s old houses. Indeed, cobbles are abundant in the Adour plain and are prized for their great hardness. They have been widely used despite the difficulty of building with rounded stones. Set in a mortar of lime and sand, the cobbles are laid in successive courses. The mason’s craft was even taken to the extreme, making the most of the shape, size and colour of the pebbles: they are arranged in herringbone, fishbone or fern-leaf patterns. Each large, flat pebble is laid at an angle and wedged in place by four smaller, round ones, set into the horizontal bed of mortar, which they fill harmoniously.