Studio: international art (79.1920)

THE REVIVAL OF THE WOODEN HOUSE

building,that inreality it requires a minimum
of foundation; concrete or brick, stone or
wooden piles, can be chosen according to
circumstances, but perhaps a foundation of
fairly roughly hewn or natural stones is most
in keeping with the appearance of the house.

The wall of the timbered house, the
haftevdrk (bond work), to give it the
old Norse name, consists of round logs,
stripped of their bark ; each log is made
to lie firmly on the one below by means of
a groove, rounded so as to make it fit
closely and tightly, and a tightening layer
is inserted between each two logs, the best
material for this being a vegetable wadding,
made in Norway, and probably elsewhere
(moss was used formerly, but it requires
to be perfectly dry). These walls shrink
in the course of time, about half an inch per
foot in a hundred years—most, naturally,
during the first year or two ; and this fact
must be reckoned with in the construction
of windows and doors, also of chimneys,
so"that the shrinking process is not impeded
and does not bring about any undesirable
effects. This problem does not present
any difficulties to the experienced builder,
but it would carry us too far to deal with
the details of the question. a 0

The haftevdrk wall cannot be connected
with brickwork in a fashion excluding
draughts, so the chimney should not be
placed in the outer wall, but say a couple
of feet inside it; this arrangement will be
found in old Norwegian timbered houses,
and it leaves a space between the fireplace
and the outer wall which is often used for
drying wood or clothes. The Norwegian
Pejs—a wide, plain, open fireplace, with
nothing of the drawing-room hearth about
it—is quite suitable for a timbered house,
and is agreeable from an aesthetic point of
view ; when properly constructed it will
never smoke. One chimney will in many
cases suffice also for pipes from kitcheners,
etc. The roof consists of planed boards,
covered with roofing felt, on the top of
which is placed a layer of sward, which
makes a picturesque roof, in keeping with
the house itself and rural surroundings,
and on which different flowering herbs by
degrees take root—one may even see small
shrubs nestling there. The sward makes
a cool roof in summer and a warm one
during the winter, presenting far less risk
of fire than a thatched roof. In Sweden
and Norway use is often made of the bark
of the birch, generally plentiful in those

LIVING-ROOM OF DR, EJNAR
SCHAFFER'S SUMMER-HOUSE AT
HOLTE. FURNITURE DESIGNED BY
THE ARCHITECT, C. BRiESTRUP

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