Erik Nordin, formerly County Supervisor of Ancient Buildings and Monuments, Gävleborg County Administrative Board

When travelling through the province Hälsingland one is struck by the fact that the buildings are very distinctive in character. In a very expressive manner they manage to leave a mark upon the surrounding landscape."Timber castles" and "farming nobility" are usually spoken of. What is so particular to Hälsingland's building heritage? What should one be particularly proud of and in turn try to preserve?

Proud and assured joy of building
The tradition of building that comes into view is from the early to mid 19th century. There remain but fragments of 18th century buildings. The turn of the century with its rich timber ornamentation and large scale buildings should not be forgotten.

There is no specific house type that can be called "The Hälsingland Farmhouse". Maybe there exist on the other hand, certain features that have become characteristic for buildings in the region. In spite of different forms the house embody something that could be described as "Hälsingesque". It is really a question of far simpler qualities. A joy of building unified with a feeling of style, a fearlessness, perhaps even a little boastful and competitive. Due to the fact that so much was built, more than was in fact necessary, many buildings still remain, undamaged and partially unused. These buildings are today fantastic historical documents, a unique asset to protect for future generations.

There exists a strong classical feeling in the architecture of the farmhouses of Hälsingland. It is not a question of farmers` cottages, independent from the architectural influences of the time. What were the sources of inspiration for these houses with elaborate roof mouldings, window reveals and architraves like those of stone manor houses and for houses with porches similar to those of Greek temples? All this was carried out with the greatest of artistry and craftsmanship. The timber is handled perfectly, mouldings and profiles are of furniture-like quality. The original work remains after 150 years despite the hot sun and November damp. The wear and tear is beginning to show and it is time to restore.

The Farmhouse and the Village
Old photographs of settlement in Hälsingland show villages as clusters of buildings in stretches along ridges or at the edge of forests. Trees are sparse and the buildings are tightly grouped. This is not as obvious in the landscape today. The vegetation is more dense, some of the buildings have disappeared, but the underlying structure still remains.

The abundance of buildings is still visible. All of the larger farms had several dwelling houses, two sometimes even three. These were sometimes used as summer or winter houses. Often more than one family lived on the same farm. Certain buildings were even used merely for festivities and large gatherings. Their everyday use was for storage. The most important buildings were situated around a yard. Where possible this was formed as a square. Only a few "square-yards" remain. During the 19th century this form of yard was often broken up. A group comprising of the main buildings plus two wings became fashionable and has in many cases survived to this day. Both dwelling house and agricultural buildings were placed around the yard. Towards the turn of the century it became more usual to plant a garden around the dwelling house. The few gardens that had existed prior to this had always been located separately as well as being fenced in. It was a bare, strict farmyard environment, not a beautiful idyll.

A clear and expressive relationship between house and land exist in older settlements. The relationship is perceived as being harmonic and natural, even if the buildings are in no way subordinate or squat in appearance. With pride and self-esteem they rise up, on southern slopes and on the backs of ridges. Raised ground makes a very good site to build upon. It gives a more stable foundation as well as being dry and warm.

On the slopes below the villages and farmhouses lay the fields, and the more damp ground at the bottom of the valley was used for pasture and haymaking. Today this land is either drained off, used for crops or has become overgrown. Small barns in these areas stand as remainders of the prior usage of the land. The old builders were not afraid to build a house on a slope. Thus a dwelling house could easily be provided with a cellar. It allowed for space under the cattle shed for the other livestock. It also meant that storage space could be created under the barn and sometimes even a treadmill used for machinated threshing.

Dwelling Houses
The living quarters were often simple even through the appearance of the buildings could be magnificent. Few of the rooms were heated isolation was poor, at least in the early 19th century. One room, the living room, was used for all everyday activities such as cooking, sleeping and spending time together. Various household tasks such as spinning, sewing and even small carpentry jobs were performed here. For large jobs there existed specialized buildings for example the brewing house, bakery, woodwork shop, forge and so on. As living quarters could as well one ore more of the chambers be used. The farmhouse's other rooms were either used for storage or for festivities and receiving guests.

The most usual type of building is a narrow-plan two-storey house with two large rooms in each storey. Man 18th century farmhouses derived their current form through the extension and modernisation of during the 19th century. Half-storeys with low windows (sidliggare) began to appear at the beginning of the 19th century. Occasionally a dwelling house could even be two and a half storeys high. In these cases the attic has low windows under the eaves of the long facades. It is quite unusual to find a narrow-plan house with only one large room. It usually occurs when buildings are joined together or under the name of "bed cottage" (sängstuga).

From the early to mid 19th century wider house types became more fashionable. It can be a question of wider five-room plans, but more frequently the long chambers were added on the backside of the narrow-plan house. This can sometimes lead to a characteristic unsymmetrical window placement in the gable facades. This house type can also be shortened and usually comprised of two large rooms at diagonally opposed corners of the house. The six-room plan with main room on the building's axis first came into general use towards the end of the 19th century. This coincided with the era of timber ornamentation (snickarglädje). Unheated living, servants and maids quarters directly adjoining stables or hay-cart entrances from the 18th and early 19th century are still in existence.

A normal method of building on a farm in Hälsingland was to adjoin one of the dwelling houses with the brew house and store. This created in turn a longer building containing living quarters and agricultural storage space. Such a building could even contain rooms for livestock. In the 19th century Hälsingland cattle shed (lagården/fäxet) consisted of a windowed room, cleanly scrubbed and with woven ragmats on the floor. To adjoin both living and livestock quarters were considered unhygienic and were criticised by the Provincial Doctor as an inferior form of accommodation. In spite of this the tradition survived well into the 20th century.

In north-east Hälsingland it is almost the norm that living-quarters, brew house, stable and even cattle shed etc., were adjoined in an L-plan or occasionally a more complex form. This applied to small cottages as well as much larger farmhouses. At the end of the 19th century the pattern books propagated for the collection of all agricultural building functions under one roof. This building should also be given a unified architectural form. In spite of this, many houses in Hälsingland still maintained the tradition of including the living quarters in the same unit. This resulted in large symmetrical building complexes. The living quarters were housed in one wing, while the other wing contained a barn adjoined to livestock quarters, stores and other rooms all in magnificent combination.

Towards the end of the 19th century came new ideals that would leave their mark on the built environment. Timber construction was the dominant method of building. Foundations became more solid through the use of quarried stone plinths. The timber construction that was still visible in many agricultural buildings became smoother and the protruding corner joints disappear. Most buildings were now clad with the timber sheeting. The sheeting was tongued and grooved and usually horizontal, but with time more and more planed timber from joinery shops was used. Houses were more or less decorated with mouldings, listings etc. The roof was made as thin as possible and given a large overhang. The houses became larger and the floor to ceiling height increased. In spite of this one and a half storey buildings were most common.
The number of rooms in houses increased. The functions became more and more varied. It was during this time for example, that kitchen entrances were built. The six-room "manor house" plan type became more common, and the farmhouse began to liken a small manor house with veranda and frontispiece. The agricultural buildings and dwelling house remain connected in many cases.

Agricultural Buildings
The cattle sheds and stables were originally timber constructions, often built on a slope in order to ease cleaning and mucking out. It wasn't until the beginning of the 20th century that the use of masonry walls in buildings became generally accepted. Timber sheds rotted quickly and had to be replaced, which sometimes occurred under an existing roof. In larger farms the brewing house which contained a fireplace and sometimes a baking oven was adjoined to the cattle shed. The stables were usually near the horse and cart entrance or an enclosed stable entrance.

A treshing barn had to be strong and constructed of tightly stacked timbers. It had to be able to withstand enormous forces and well sealed so that the grain would not be destroyed. Even the grain store had to be of high quality as this was the farm's "safe". These buildings were usually located outside the actual farmyard. This was to protect them in case of fire. It is these buildings that are best preserved. The barn was a special building type adapted to suit a certain method of treshing. This was originally carried out by hand but towards the end of the 18th century houses were used in the threshing process. For this reason most threshing barns were converted.

Typical for Hälsingland was the early mechanisation of the threshing and flax handling processes. This also included the construction of special buildings often situated near a watercourse. All but a few treadmills remain. They were usually located under the threshing barn they were to serve, sometimes outside close to the building.

Towards the end of the 19th century agricultural buildings became larger with many different functions under one roof which led to a more unified form of architecture. Large lofts were built over stables and cattle sheds with external access ramps. Well into the 20th century roofs were built over manure-heaps. Symmetry and order are commonplace in the architecture, as in ornamentation around windows, dormer windows and large doors. Gardens are planted around the dwelling houses with symmetrical flowerbeds with plants and flagpole.

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