In this area, a once-common Acadian building practice called piece on piece used square-hewn horizontal timbers locked together with dove-tailed or mortise and tenon joints and wooden tree nails, creating solid timber houses that were sometimes hidden behind brick facing. Although conventional round log homes were easier to build, they were too drafty for the Valley’s long, cold winters. The house across the field was built with this method, and at the Albert House a wall interior reveals its hidden dove-tailed solid timbers. In the mid-19th century, many houses built along the river, including the Chassé and Albert homes, were moved uphill near the road and away from spring flooding.