Rachal House


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This maison sur selles and bousillage one story frame house has a hipped roof and interior brick chimney. Built in 1835, it is an excellent example of the vernacular architecture French colonial house style. At one time the house was used as both a residence and a store run by Tante Comète and Nonc Zoel Rachal. Tante Comète was named for Halley's Comet.

They had coffee, sugar, and salt meat - just any kind of little grocery. They didn't have a big market. They didn't sell raw meat, but they'd sell salt meat and all kind of little stuff. . . . And they had a daughter name Mae that used to play the piano. . . . I would go in to listen to her and Comète would sell us jelly beans.

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The children would visit the store every afternoon on the way home from school to buy candy. Tante Comète was a careful business woman who watched her money closely, all the time making it appear that she was looking after the children's interests. Counting out five pieces of candy for a nickel, she would smile and say:

Une, deux, trois, quatre, cinq . . . I don't want to cheat you, chère.

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