The story of Aupeix Handcrafted Tile company began 8 generations ago.
We were able to trace some of the documents back to 1740.
The activity of tile making has strong territorial links:
- The presence of a large “clay vein” located in the town of Saint-Hilaire-les-Places, south of Limoges, near the regions of Correze and Dordogne.
- Local demand for building materials and more specifically flat roof tiles.
In 2018, after having travelled the world as a Sales Manager for a Petrochemical company, Laurent Debord decided to come back to his roots. Around this time Michel Aupeix was getting ready to take his well deserved retirement. Their paths crossed and very naturally a strong connection was formed. Laurent spent his childhood on his family farm which is situated just under a kilometre away from the tile company. His great grandfather, a tile maker, was forced to close down his own Clay Tile company, “La Tuilerie Pailler”, in 1958 after failing to find to a successor. At this time there were 12 Clay roof tiling companies working from the same clay vein in this area.
In order to secure the future of the company, Laurent persuaded Michel Aupeix to train him in the craft over the next 2 years.
Having completely renovated his own family home using the traditional clay flat tiles from this very company, Laurents wish to share this passion for heritage conservation grew along with the desire to ensure the continuation of this unique craft.