The farmhouse struts

In the construction of Cordon houses, the brace is an oblique wooden structural element that joins the post to the purlin. Out of 104 permanent houses surveyed in 2000, 754 engraved braces were inventoried.
Under the ridge purlin, on the side with the most traffic, the owner would engrave at least his name and the date the house was built.
These struts, called "éparon" in Arpitan and "boshè" when engraved, are adorned with religious motifs (Chalices, Tree of Life, Templar Cross, etc.), Savoy "lakes", religious and popular maxims:
"Blessed be God"
"Long live Jesus Mary".
"In all seasons, God bless this house".
"Life is short and death is certain".

The reading of these inscriptions has been the subject of an interesting approach to the village, in two publications by the Association Cordon- Patrimoine d'Hier pour Demain": "Les maisons de Cordon" and "Ce que nous disent les boshè" available from the Cordon tourist office.