The buron was only used during the five months of the ‘estive’, mid May to mid October. It was totally without comfort. The buron was generally established near a spring. It was a small rectangular building, 12m long by 4 – 6m wide. It was built on rising ground for protection against strong winds, storms and snow storms. The thick walls were constructed from lauzes, volcanic rocks of phonolite or trachyte. The door most often opened from a south facing gable end. In the less rough burons a hayloft was accessible from the exterior. Some had a shelter for the calves, a ‘vedelat’ and a room for the men. Often an exterior enclosure housed the pigs which were fattened on whey.

The buron was divided into two rooms. The first provided living accommodation for the cowherd and his assistant, the ‘boutillier’, and was where the cheese was made. Vaulted and dark, it had a fireplace and a small window, the ‘fenestrou’. While the buron was in use it had a table with two benches and two large beds covered with straw mattresses against the wall.

The utensils for cheese making, tubs, gerles, faisselles, moulds, and a rudimentary press cluttered the room. The men worked in the half light of the buron, with the odour of the whey as it escaped through the door. At the far end a door opened into the cellar, which faced north. This guaranteed the constant cool temperature necessary to keep the cheese for the duration of theestive.