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-The Dream-
It has been a longtime dream of ours, to
have a place to call "home". For years we have traveled around the
midwest, doing our demos and camplife displays from tents, always
wishing we could create a permanant place to explore more Living
History endeavors.Four years ago, we began down the road of making
that happen, and last year we broke ground and began building. We
have been working with the Danish Windmill Corporation in Elk Horn,
Iowa to create this structure which will be used in the pursuit of
Living History experimentation, museum piece displays, and artisan's
skills. It is because of their vision and support that we have been
fortunate enough to make these dreams a reality. Our Hjem project has
been designed as a complimentary addition to the already beautiful
grounds of the Danish Windmill and it's history, by introducing even
earlier Danish traditions and
history.
As a stand alone structure, the Hjem is designed as a presentation
piece which will demonstrate a variety of the building practices
available to the people of the later Dark Ages and incorporates them
into a single structure. A kind of chimera, if you will, which allows
us to better demonstrate the evolution of building practices during
this time. Like a small Herberg, or a home/workplace that may have
been found in a number of villages and towns during the Viking Age,
it's a two room construction with a heated dwelling room and an
attached workshop. From archeological studies into building
practices, this seams to be a recurring design with the smaller
utilitarian buildings. The halls and longhouses were usually an
elongated, bow-sided structure with high shingled roofs, but many of
the smaller buildings came in a variety of sizes and shapes....our
Hjem is one of those smaller dwelling houses, rectangular shaped and
nestled into a small rise in the ground surrounding
it.
Rather than a narrow, historic reconstruction (I mean, we are in Iowa) and because of the fact it had to be built to last (unlike the actual structures of that time) we have incorporated some modern materials into the project, which will not be visible once completed. The finished product will represent a building found in most of Northern Europe and Scandanavia around the year AD 1000, and will demonstrate the stave, bole, and timber frame varieties of structures available throughout that time. It's interior will display the trappings of a working home complete with a blacksmith's shop and it's attached living space with a central hearth.
Some aspects of this Hjem will harken back to the early dug-out, three isle earthen homes from the early Iron Age (utilizing central posts for roof supports) while also demonstrating the use of sule posts and double stave walls filled with waddle. The joists and roof carrying supports that are typical to these structures is shown, as well as the interior wall supports used along with waddle and daub filler. Stone and earth foundations have been found in rare examples, but are thought to be a later period advancement much like the use of sill-beams; though there has been evidence that Viking structures used a sill-beam between posts (or stave planks) that were firmly set in the earth...rather than a single continuous sillplate. Some archeological evidence has even shown that timbers may have been used on edge as footings for sill-plates to rest on, below heavy load bearing walls; viz. the bow sided walls of longhouses.
-The Project-
Below is an example of what remains of most Viking period houses today. Not much more than a floorplan layout of the former stucture, created by the posts and planks which are still evident in the soil. There are numerous examples of ancient abodes throughout Europe, Poland, Scandanavia, Russia, etc...though most hold very little timber evidence, they do retain alot of information about building practices through their effect on the ground on which they were built. Very few timbers or planks have been found, and usually only when they have been preserved by being re-used in a later construction do they survive. This picture is of our VikingHjem's "footprint", or how it would look were it part of an authentic site being excavated today. Marks in the soil would lend evidence of corner and sule posts arranged to outline the structure, being later filled in with either wattle and daub walls, earth, or planks of bole or stave design. The dark spots in the center represent where roof supporting columns stood to carry the beams under the joists. This structure is dug into the surrounding slope and uses the earth and stone around it as a foundation, wherein the main wall posts are sunk. The center rectangle is the firepit for the living area, and the attached room to the left is the smithy, or what was also sometimes the byre, or stable for cattle.
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This next image is our modernized layout. We've utilized a poured concrete foundation, with poured concrete footings. I've used this as a means to secure the wall posts with iron brackets and bolt braces to the foundation so as to ensure it can withstand the elements and remain a safe structure for us to inhabit and show for many, many years. By using stones and earth packed back against the concrete, we'll cover most of the foundation and the exterior planks will imitate the stave planking and bole construction, which will hide the top part of the foundation...making the finished product appear as though it were built authentically. The interior will be finished out like the originals, with planked walls and some waddle and daub screens and halfwalls. This building is 40ft. long and 18ft. wide with a twelve foot peak located above the twin post footings near the central firepit. The foundation stands 4' high from the inside floor and is 6" thick concrete with rebar reinforcement. A door is located in the first third of the North wall, and a larger one is in the center at the gable (West) end.
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-The Progress-
Late last year, during our VikingMeet event in Sept. of 2006, we held our groundbreaking ceremony with the Danish Windmill Corp. and the City Council of Elk Horn. Our dream was well on it's way now, as we presented our Project to those in attendance. We broke ground using a longaxe (which was very appropriate) and each member of the Board and Council, as well as our own members and friends in attendace got to take a swing. The next few weeks found us laying out the grounds, coordinating our approach, and setting up equipment and man/women power.
2006
It didn't take long and we were underway with the project. First off we started with tearing into a couple of old barns just outside of town to salvage some of the beams and planks that were available. They were very old and made with the mortised and tenoned connections which are ancient practices when working with wood timbers. This is something that wasn't done in the beginning of the Viking period, but did begin to take hold near the end throughout most of Europe and Scandanavia. In the beginning, (early Iron Age Denmark) a home would've consisted more of branches and trunks brought together forming a structure on which to daub clay, or dung mixed with earth. Eventually this transformed into the sule posts and wall planks, utilizing interior supports for beams and roofs with gable ends, and replacing the primitive cave-like dwellings which were no more than animal like 'dens' in the earth.
The foundation and footings were all formed and poured with concrete to give us a more durable building in the end. After so many years, a home in the Viking period would've needed to be re-built due to occupancy levels rising, or simple wear on the structure. By sinking planks and poles in the earth they would achieve a solid enough structure, but it would of course be subject to rot and decay. There are so many house finds which show one or more buildings being put one on top of the other over the course of many, many years.
We've collected quite a bit of our building materials from the reconstituted planks and beams of the barns, easing the cost for the remainder of materials needed. The planking will finish the illusion of sule and bole constructed walls from the inside and out, once completed. The roof timbers and it's construction will be of the same style as many Medieval homes, complete with a sod covered roof.
We were very fortunate to have had such a mild (early) winter, in that we got so much accomplished before the snow started flying. This last pic is how it was left just before Thanksgiving last year (2006). I've visited since and the tarps had stood up to the weather, right up until this last big storm that dropped 15" of snow on Elk Horn at the end of Feb. '07. We are waiting for some needed melting temps. to pick back up, and before no time we'll get the main beams and roof supports up. After that, it'll really start coming together.
I'll leave it here for now, with updates to come as soon as there is new progress.
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Update from March 1st--June 10th 2007
It's been awhile since my last update to this page because work on the Hjem has gone so well. We were busy all Spring with it's construction and were able to finish most of the exterior and grounds before Elk Horn's "Tivoli Festival" held Memorial Day weekend. The interior completion was pushed back due to heavy rains in April and May causing localized flooding and rising water tables. The Hjem itself experienced water flooding from the ground (more precisely-up from the firepit) and running out of the doorways after over 15" of rain fell in a few days time. But, with added drain tiles around and through the structure, everything dried out before Tivoli and we were able to show off what had been done so far. This first set of pictures show the progress with the beams, columns and walls from early March to mid-April. The stone and rock work would be done and re-done a couple of times before it was just right. In the end though, the finished product was worth the back (and knees) breaking work.
By mid April we were installing columns and cross beams to the structure. The roof joists would come next, in preperation for the decking. Our plan was to "hide" the plywood roof decking on the inside with willow twigs stuffed between them to look like thatching. The roof itself was covered entirely by a rubber membrane, then done in two different finishes. The living area roof (the steep East end) and over the peak were done with a seedum matte. The conventional sod roll roof I had originally designed is considerably heavier than the alternative Lisa found for us. The matte comes with a variety of plant (some flowering) and grass seeds, is low-maintenance, and very robust. Once it has grown out fully, it will look very natural. On the West end of the Hjem is the workshop/smithy area which has been roofed with rough planks. Both sections have a covered smoke hole (chimney) with an iron hinged 'door'.
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So, by the time Tivoli rolled around we had gotten the sod laid, the roof done, all the rock placed and the flagstone walk installed. About a wall and a half of the interior have been planked, leaving the rest of the walls and the floor to be finished yet. Doors and 'window' closures came next and then the interior details like benches, tables, stools, nick-nacks laying around in chests and skins laid out on bedboxes.....all the detail stuff.
.....more to come...
finish date and GRANDE OPENING are set for Tivoli Festival 2008. We'd hoped to be done sooner, but ran into a wet year last season which slowed much of our progress.
June-Sept. 2007
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....Stay tuned!
2008
Here, finally, are the updates on our progress. I haven't posted anything in quite a while, and our project is already nearly done. The interior has been nearly completed, and the exterior is very close to done now that we finally have it's cracks daubed, and the grounds nearly finished. Of course, this will always be an ongoing project, adding things like fences outside and little touches inside, over time.
~ Tivoli is just around the corner!
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~Still more to come~