A longhouse farmhouse (Dutch: langhuisboerderij) is a farmhouse in which the dwelling and the working end lie in line with one another, under a single continuous pitched roof with one ridge. It is the oldest and most widespread basic type of the Dutch farmhouse: quite literally a long house in which people, livestock and harvest are accommodated one behind the other.
Layout
- A rectangular plan, dwelling at one short end, threshing floor and byre at the other.
- An internal connection between dwelling and working end, so the livestock could be reached in winter without going outside.
- Construction — generally a series of frames on the aisled hall principle, with a tall central aisle (the threshing floor) and lower side aisles where the cattle stood.
- A cellar with a raised room in the dwelling, recognisable from the higher-set windows on that side.
The variants it produced
The longhouse is the starting point for a family of regional types:
- Krukhuis — the dwelling is set at right angles, giving the plan a crank shape.
- Head-neck-trunk farmstead — dwelling (head), connecting range (neck) and the large barn (trunk); characteristic of Friesland and Groningen.
- Cross-house farmstead — the dwelling stands transversely in front of the working end.
- Long-facade farmhouse — the Kempen variant, with every entrance in the long elevation.
The distinction lies in what is being described: “longhouse” refers to the organisation (everything in one line under one ridge), “long facade” refers to the access (all doors in the eaves elevation).
Points to watch in conversion
- The unbroken ridge is what defines the appearance. A row of dormers in the working end disrupts it immediately. Consider rooflights in the plane of the roof, or borrowing light through the gable.
- The closed working end tolerates few openings. Large glazed areas read as a house rather than a barn. One large opening on the site of the old threshing-floor doors, with the rest kept solid, works well.
- Floors. The byre end often has a floor laid straight on the ground without insulation or a damp-proof membrane; it needs complete renewal.
- Leave the frame visible. The roof structure is the greatest spatial quality these buildings have to offer. Insulate in the roof plane above the frames rather than hanging a ceiling below them.
- Check the post feet. Rising damp attacks the base of frame posts; repair is by splicing in a new foot, not by filling.
Related terms
- Long-facade farmhouse
- Aisled hall house
- Head-neck-trunk farmstead
- Cross-house farmstead
- Tie-beam frame
- Threshing floor
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