Thanks to their wealth, many winegrowers of Riquewihr would afford the services of high-level architects and craftsmen. The Renaissance oriel window is a typical element of bourgeois houses: it is placed either in the center of the gable or in the form of a turret placed at a corner. It is also common for the house to have an outer turret on its entrance facade. It provides access to the upper floors by a spiral staircase. If the ground floor is always masonry, the residential level and the stories above are most often half-timbered. It is not unusual for a wealthy winegrower's house to have five to six superimposed levels and, consequently, an impressive roof.