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Sony Forums Challenges | all galleries >> Challenge 181: humble (hosted by jrdu and Konstantin Yagudin) >> Challenge 181: Eligible > edit image
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16-NOV-2008 Jo Beerens

Beyond humble by geetwee

Netherlands

These farmhouses are typical for the southern of the Netherlands. Not many remain and instead of poor farmers living in these houses you now have to pay a premium price to buy on of these.
I don't know the English name for these houses. Have a look here for the "German Wiki page " http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fachwerkhaus to get an idea how they were built.

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Jono slack 20-Nov-2008 00:02
Hi There
We live in an english equivalent, just a few miles across the north sea (in Norfolk). Generally speaking you have to decide if you want the beams on the outside or the inside - here they're on the outside, ours are on the inside, the actual structure of the beams will tell the age of the house. Where we are the space between the beams was filled with small willow branches, and then the mortar was a mixture of cow muck and horse hair (very dusty after 300 years).
all the best
Geetwee 18-Nov-2008 23:14
Thanks Katherine, thanks John for the comment. Part of the popularity is that they are in rural areas.
Geetwee 18-Nov-2008 23:12
Thanks for the half-timbered remark jp. Lots of character in these houses but in original state quite dark and small rooms with low ceilings. In the old days the holes between the wood would be filled with loam. The real poor people had "houses" made of turf. I think the half-timbered were used by small farmers or people that worked on a big farm.
Katherine Stanback's Photos18-Nov-2008 22:51
Beautiful capture of this charming, old farmhouse!
Sony Forums Challenges17-Nov-2008 22:27
I had a friend who grew up on a farm, who hated my city apartment. "You can't put your feet up on the walls" was how he complained about it. Rustic and charming, I can imagine why these houses have become trendy. jrdu
Sony Forums Challenges17-Nov-2008 05:37
Neat half-timbered house, Jo. I can see why it would be popular with trend-setters today. I never saw one before made with brick & tile; those farmers couldn't have been all that poor. Well, maybe they were the poor of the Golden Age. ;)
~jp