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General
Architecture And Building Construction
My Mother’s Family House
by Ljiljana M. Bojanic
My mother's family house was a typical village house in Šumadija. Its layout was square in shape, about 12 by 12 meters. The house was built on a hill slope; consequently, a half of the basement was located underground. The foundations and walls of basement were built of stone and the basement had an earth floor. The basement had a large double semi-circular door of oak wood. The ceiling of the basement was made up of wooden joists and floor boards (load bearing wall and joist structure). Four large wine and brandy barrels were kept in the basement.
The ground floor was built of bricks and joists. The thickness of walls was about 0.5 m. The ceiling was made up of boards and earth like a sandwich. The roof had four slopes. Clay tiles covered the roof and it didn't have any gutters. The lower parts of eaves were made of oak timber strips.
The window frames and doors were made of oak wood. The entrance door had a window at the top and the door shutters.
The house had three bedrooms, a kitchen and a hall.
A part of the yard, in front of the entrance door, was paved with cobblestones and the other part was covered with grapevine. My family relaxed in this part of the yard. The barrel shade had a large opening and brandy barrels were placed there with the storehouse above it, a corn crib and a chicken house were located in the
so-called economic yard around the main yard near the house. The cowshed, the pigsty and the outside toilet were located further away from the house.
New village houses are usually built as any city detached houses. They are built of modern materials - reinforced concrete, concrete and blocks but usually they don't have a basement, thermal insulation and central heating or any heating except for the dining room. They are very uncomfortable. No one lives in those houses and they are built for appearance, whereas the owners live in the old houses.