In the historic centre of Pont-Audemer, the houses are all at water level. Their bases are made of pebbles or bricks, then oak beams and cob. Dug in the Middle Ages between the two arms of the Risle river, the canals have no banks. Local laws regulating land plots here are very specific: the house is on the street, followed by a courtyard, then workshops overlooking the stream or the canal. The water can only be seen from the bridges or through the small passages leading to the washhouses.