The buildings and houses in France typically have very thick walls. They do not use wood frame clad construction, they basically stack a version of a cinder block with metal pintels where needed. The older building can have a exterior wall thickness of several feet. And they have functional shutters to keep light out. They lack AC so all this keeps he interior cool in brief heat episodes, which is what they more typically endure. This is why a prolonged hot spell can cause major issues.
Our older homes had a front porch for sitting after dinner and possibly a whole house fan (before AC). Once the sun set, they'd retire, and it could be sticky at night.
As the son of an architect, I have a strong revulsion to homes that are completely "out of place".
For example, my ex's family live in Newport Beach, so we'd often be walking around these waterfront homes on the Balboa peninsula or Balboa Island. We'd see some weird designs.
To me, it's a temperate climate, and the opposite of Atlanta. Because it never gets really hot, you want windows to let as much light in as you can. And especially for the people living on the water, you want big, tall windows facing the water to take advantage of the views you paid millions of dollars for. Most of the older homes in the area don't have AC either, but even in the worst bit of summer there's no humidity to hold heat in the air, so as soon as the sun goes down everything completely cools off.
Yet there are some strange designs. Very closed-up "cottage" looking houses with tiny windows. They'd be adorable in New England. Not in Newport Beach. There's one house that's built on an A-frame design. That's wonderful in Lake Arrowhead, but I'm pretty sure there's not going to be 2' of snow falling on your house on the Beach. You don't need an A-frame. There's one REALLY nice house that has a big wraparound porch, with big overhangs, wrought iron detail work, like it was plucked right out of New Orleans. Horrible for Newport Beach because that porch will ensure no direct light reaches the interior of the home.
I just can't understand why some people are so wedded to some particular design aesthetic that they don't realize that it's completely wrong for the climate they're in and ends up being less functional as a result.
