The young ladies who passed by sketched Pere Merlier's mill in their albums.
On the side facing the highway the structure was more solid.

A stone gateway opened upon the wide courtyard, which was bordered to the right and to the left by sheds and stables.

Beside a well an immense elm covered half the courtyard with its shadow.

In the background the building displayed the four windows of its second story, surmounted by a pigeon house.

Pere Merlier's sole vanity was to have this front plastered every ten years.