hi all
i have seen many examples of long houses but what of more simple dwellingsone that could be built on a small patch of land to house a few people. does anyone know examples of these types of homes. if so could they supply with pictures and any info on how to build them?
thanks

This is a design that I am going to be building in the forest adjacent to my house soon. We can egg each other on to see who completes his first.


http://oakgroveacademy.org/l3acp5pyvq.jpg
http://oakgroveacademy.org/1boyoc69r1.jpg
http://oakgroveacademy.org/98spn1stgl.jpg
http://oakgroveacademy.org/b14gjt1e9g.jpg
http://oakgroveacademy.org/1jz6vsgo0kc.jpg
http://oakgroveacademy.org/1jzqheuh8oi.jpg

And take a gander at THIS one, too - pure whimsy, but I'd love to build one myself.

http://www.simondale.net/house/

That is really cool Jonathan. Where did you get the plans and where is the house pictured located? Just neat is all I can say. I have been dreaming about getting the land to build a samll castle or manor house for myself. Of course the biggest obstacle is money. It's always the money. :cry:

Scott

There's a really nice guy (whose name escapes me) that I met from New Hampshire, and he happily foisted his plans off on me. The finished project in the last two photos is his place. Like you, it's always the money keeping me from getting the project started, but my money goes through the additional calculus of time (since time equals money). We've got a relatively new little daughter, and then two other young ones, and there is NO STEENKEENG TIME.

I hear you about not enough time Jonathan. Congratulations on the newest little one. I have an 8 and 11 year old and time becomes even more crunched when they get into activities.

It is nice to dream though isn't it?

Scott

Hi Jonathan and Nathan, Have you guys dealt with local building codes when considering building a traditional building like a viking dwelling? I have tried talking to town hall and the inspectors about what would be involved to legally build a traditional building and have gotten a whole bunch of ummmm, uhhhh, hum's and not much else.

I am a builder in WI and I can't see anything on those plans that would conflict with our state UBC. I would have an engineer look at it first and then take it for permit approval. With an engineer stamp on it, there is little argument to be had. I make it sound pretty easy, there will most likely be other hiccups but it should be do-able. I would consider cord wood construction for a project like this. Pretty cool at any rate.

I have bounced this off my local county guys. But they know me from the five years I've been working on my house, and there's a pretty good personal relationship between us. Of course it's practically a truism to say this, but if you treat the inspectors like normal guys and just tell them what you want to do without being a weenie (or something), then they're pretty much going to sign your ticket and wish you a good day.

Example: after busting my hump to build 900 square feet of new deck, with concrete footings, new ledger boards, etc., a new front yard with a retaining wall, and just a scheit-load of other stuff, when I finally called for my final inspection the county guy came out and made exactly ONE measurement - the distance between pickets on my railings - signed my ticket and went on with his day. Unbelievable.

Well, I know this is a getting a fair bowshot away from the mission of this site, but, since building stuff is my thing, I'll chime in... if we're way beyond the pale, maybe Nathan will chime in and we'll pursue this in PM's...

If you're willing to start small, most every jurisdiction has a target square footage for accessory structures, below which no permit is required - just respect your property line setbacks. I think the IRC code proposes 200 square feet, but any town or city or county might set te limit at 100 or 120, for example. No permit means no inspection, and that makes it much easier to get away with "non-traditional" construction methods like pise-de-terre or dry-stacked stone.

I'm pretty sure I saw some photos online of some recreated Viking age huts in some living history museum, in one of those countries where they still eat lutefisk. Unless I'm mis-remembering (another side effect of having children, yea?), they were basically half-sunken pit houses not too different from those found all over iron-age Europe. Obviously the range of comfort inherent in something like that would vary greatly, depending on soil composition, water table, available material to line the pit and build the above-ground walls. Kinda like the proverbial Hobbit-hole, there were probably some fairly well appointed houses like this, and some that were as miserable as one can imagine.

I'll edit this post - add some pics - if I can find them again. Sorry I didn't bookmark 'em when I had them...

Cheers,
Eric

I recently see a documentary on History Channel about the houses of the viking invaders in York (England). They were constructed with a rectangular footprint, a floor completely digged in and then plastered on six way by oak planks. On this base (with naturally a square hole for the stairs) they builed the main floor, with a roof of straw.

Hi Nathan,

Have a look at the Saxon Burhg site being built by Regia www.wychurst.com it will give you a basic knowledge of some construction techniques that you could perhaps utilise to build a smaller project. Also look at some of the smaller dwellings here , www.museedestempsbarbares.fr. and google West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village

The 'Vikings' did not necessarily build houses / dwellings to a set method of materials, rather adapting local resources ie, sod roofs to say shingle roofs, to thatched roofs, walls could be low stone affairs, to say timber, it just depends on where they settled.

We helped a friend with a fun project he conceived building a grubenhouse style hobbit den, into the side of a hill in his back garden, with sleeping cots dug into the walls, fire pit etc, the roof and front made from wattle and daub and then sodded over with grass. We have enjoyed some good nights drinking mead enjoying a meal cooked on the fire pit, with our LHE kit, mind took some sussing out on how to ventilate the roof!
best
Dave

Here is a link to some pictures from a reconstruktion viking farm north of Stockholm.
http://www.gunnesfelag.se/houses.htm

Their hompage is:
http://www.gunnesfelag.se

/Viktor

yes the french have that fully working roman fort too if i remember right with booby traps outside as well.
yes i might not race u yet on building luckily no little ones to pester me but dont forget children = free labour. thats what my father says.
yes planning is a concern but and this is a big BUT. in ireland if i recall buildings without a permanent wall or foundation are not considered liable for permission. (due to our horrid weather etc)
also if its on the land for 3 years and no one sees it can stay i know of a guy who hid a castle he built this way pure geneus he pretended it was a bunch of haybails
i see that hobbit house was built with only 3 tools that right up my alley. any idea on building methods?
also any other ideas for buildings im looking to use it to house between 6-10 not very fussy reenactors on weekends. but thatch is costly although i know a thatcher living close by and shingles are costly but the earth roof seems interesting.
any ideas on methods or where to get started?
also to all americans who might know i heard some professor in Gettysburg has an in depth site on a vik farm stead in the phaoroh islands if anyone knows the site?

Here are some pics taken during the course on viking age building techniques at Gotland university 07-08. I tried to pick out the best ones, but feel free to browse around for yourselves. There are alot more pics that I hope will be uploaded soon.
http://photobucket.com/vikinghus/

Birka:
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_3073.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_3074.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_3078.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_3080.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_3081.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_3082.jpg

Model of our reconstruction:
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_3268.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_3270.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_3271.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_3272.jpg

Our reconstruction irl:
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_1573.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_1593.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_1594.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_1595.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg175/viki...G_1525.jpg