A long-facade farmhouse (Dutch: langgevelboerderij) is a farmhouse type in which dwelling, byre and barn lie one behind the other under a single continuous ridge, with every entrance placed in the same long elevation. The name refers to precisely that: the eaves elevation is the access side.
Characteristics
- A long, narrow plan, one storey with a roof, under a continuous pitched roof.
- All the doors in the long elevation — house door, byre doors and barn door side by side on one line.
- The barn door is taller than the byre doors, so that a fully loaded harvest wagon could be driven in. That step in height is the clearest identifying feature.
- Byre windows are smaller than those of the dwelling. The functional layout can therefore be read directly off the elevation.
- The dwelling often has a raised room above a cellar.
- A fire wall between dwelling and working end in later examples.
- Materials — dwelling and byre usually in brick, the barn end in timber in older examples.
Region and origin
The type emerged from the seventeenth century onwards and is characteristic of the Kempen: North Brabant, Belgian Limburg and Dutch Limburg. Elsewhere in the Netherlands other types dominate, such as the aisled hall house and the head-neck-trunk farmstead.
Conversion
Long-facade farmhouses are frequently converted into dwellings. Points to watch:
- Keep the elevation legible. The run of doors with the tall barn opening is the type. Replace that opening with a row of identical domestic windows and you are left with a long shed and no recognisable character. Local authorities actively steer on this for designated and characteristic buildings.
- Insulate the roof from the inside if the appearance of tiles, overhang and eaves line is to be kept. In a listed building that carries real weight. Pay attention to the vapour control layer and to an airtight junction at the wall plate.
- The floor of the working end often sits lower than the house floor and directly on the ground, without insulation or a damp-proof membrane. Budget for renewing it completely.
- Rising damp. Old walls rarely have a damp-proof course; check this before finishing internally with vapour-tight materials.
- The frame. Do not remove posts for an open-plan space without a structural engineer specifying replacement bracing.
Related terms
- Longhouse farmhouse
- Long elevation
- Aisled hall house
- Head-neck-trunk farmstead
- Farmhouse
- Damp-proof course
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