The Landscape of Half-Timbered Houses

One of the distinctive features of the Trojzemí region – and thus of the Lusatian Mountains landscape – is its romantic half-timbered houses. Here, they are simply called ‘roubenky’ or ‘podstávky’, and you’ll find them in every village. This is one of the reasons why the area is nicknamed ‘The Landscape of Half-Timbered Houses’.

The first timber-framed houses found their way here in the Middle Ages from the German side of the border. Over the centuries, their construction was refined and developed, eventually giving rise to the ‘podstávka’. Log houses were usually built in one particular way – half consisted of a sandstone (brick) hall and the other half of a timber-framed (wooden) living room, with white plaster between the logs.

A ‘podstávka’ is a wooden arched structure that bears the weight of the roof, or possibly the first floor of the house, thus protecting the timber framework from splitting. It is a unique structure demonstrating the incredible skill of the carpenters and builders of the time – this is also evidenced by the fact that 18th-century half-timbered houses have survived to this day and this architectural style remains one of the most popular.

Another of the charms of half-timbered houses is their widespread popularity – they were favoured by both farmers and townspeople, so you’ll find them in the countryside as well as in urban areas. Proof of this can be found, for example, in Šmilovská Lane in Rumburk or in Nový Bor, where the 18th-century half-timbered headquarters of the Lasvit company is complemented by a modern glass extension.

Another aspect of half-timbered houses is their variety of forms – these include houses with a timber-framed or half-timbered upper storey, which are found mainly in the Frýdlant region, but also in the village conservation areas of Kryštofovo Údolí, Velenice and Sloup v Čechách.

A half-timbered wall was constructed from beams reinforced with diagonal struts; the gaps between the beams were filled with a mixture of clay and chaff. The decoration of the houses themselves is also an interesting phenomenon, reflecting human creativity – the gables were adorned with intricate patterns of slate, whilst the lower sections featured carvings.

You can find interesting examples of half-timbered houses with decorative gables in almost every village; you just need to look carefully. A surprising number of well-preserved two-storey half-timbered houses can be found, for example, in Horní Prysk, Polevsko, Mařenice, Zdislava, Velenice and elsewhere.

It is difficult to list the vast variety or convey the beauty of timber-framed folk architecture in just a few lines. You can savour the charm of these half-timbered houses on Half-Timbered House Open Day or at any time of year in one of the half-timbered houses open to the public. They often serve as pubs, guesthouses, but also as museums, galleries or information centres.