What is a Rijnland farmhouse?
The Rijnland farmhouse (Dutch: Rijnlandse boerderij) is a South Holland farm type characterised by a long, narrow plan, strikingly high eaves walls and a large dairy cellar. It is found in the districts of Rijnland, Delfland and Schieland: the peat-meadow country around Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam.
Note that this is the Dutch region of Rijnland, not the German Rhineland.
How the type came about
The Rijnland farmhouse is a variant of the hall house: the age-old type in which people, livestock and harvest live under one continuous roof, carried by a row of anchor-beam trusses forming a nave and two aisles.
In this region dairy farming was strongly specialised in milk and butter. That meant large quantities of milk had to be kept cool, so the cellar in one of the aisles was substantially enlarged. That big cellar is the defining feature of the type.
Characteristics
- Long and narrow in plan, with the working parts arranged one behind the other
- High eaves walls, because the aisles were raised to make room for the cellar and the chamber above it
- A large dairy cellar in one aisle, sunk into the ground for a cool, steady temperature
- An upper chamber above the cellar, sitting several steps higher than the rest of the living quarters; often the best room in the house
- Living accommodation at the front, byre and storage behind
Recognising and reusing them
From outside, the upper chamber gives itself away as a row of windows set noticeably higher than the other openings in the same wall.
Many of these farmhouses are listed. When converting one to a dwelling, the truss structure, the cellar climate and the facade composition usually carry the heritage value: work as reversibly as possible there.
Related terms
- Hall house
- Farmhouse
- Listed building
- Restoration
- Facade
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