In our living room in Le Presbytere when we bought the house in 2006 there was a stained wood dropped ceiling.

When we took that down the following year we discovered these plastered beams.

When we finally chipped off the plaster we found the original beams in the house , fairly battered and worn but still doing their job. This is how we left them.
I am quite sure that there are people who would have preferred the ceiling we found !