The Old School
Built in the 1830s, the main house began its life as a place where young men could prepare for the priesthood. Later in the nineteenth century, as education became compulsory in France, a school was added to the original building. It became the École libre de garçons de Saint-Salvadou, one of several schools that served the village.
For generations, boys from Saint-Salvadou and the surrounding countryside passed through these rooms. The old photographs preserve something of that time — pupils gathered with their teachers outside the school, and formal class photographs taken more than a century ago.
Many years later, the building began another chapter. I took over the old school and gradually transformed it into my guitar-making workshop and teaching space. Where generations once came to learn, instruments are now designed and built, and students once again travel here to learn a craft.
Today the old school is home to Chris Wynne Guitars and the House of Wooden Voices — a working atelier where the history of the building remains very much part of the place.
Enrolment form from the Second World War where the birth of the children was also recorded as well as attendance.
