Sorry to be so out of date, I'm just dealing with the backlog.  The
construction method/material known as bousillage is still found in many
places in Louisiana.  It consists of mud and cured Spanish moss,
occasionally animal hair, on lath between vertical timbers.  Many of the
surviving examples are colonial or from the early 19th century (Wells
House, Natchitoches; Oakland & Magnolia Plantations, Cane River Creole
NHP; Kent Plantation House, Alexandria, to name a few examples).  It
ALWAYS, in this climate--as wet as the Carolina lowcountry--had to be
protected by a broad roof overhang, often by an outer layer of boards
as well to protect it from the elements, plus whitewash to deter
carpenter bees which love to bore into it.  An original bousillage wall
is practically an oxymoron, except perhaps on the very best protected
examples of dwellings. On outbuildings and less-finished dwellings,
replacing old bousillage with new was (is) practically ongoing.
 
Carolyn Breedlove
Executive Director
Kent House
[log in to unmask] Thu, 4 Jun
1998, SouthArc wrote:
 
> Marty Perdue mentioned pise (rammed earth) construction.  There is a church
> and a house of this type construction in Camden, SC.  I'm surprised Carl
> Steen didn't mention it in his posting.  I can't remember much about it,
> except that they still exist and I think the exterior may be stuccoed.
>
>                                 Lucy Wayne
>