Schwarzwaldhaus

 

Nothing looks quite like a Black Forest House.

 

The Black Forest house (German: Schwarzwaldhaus) is a byre-dwelling that is found mainly in the central and southern parts of the Black Forest in southwestern Germany. It is characterised externally by a long hipped or half-hipped roof that descends to the height of the ground floor. This type of dwelling is suited to the conditions of the Black Forest: hillside locations, broad tracks, high levels of snowfall and heavy wind loading. Individual farms, such as the Hierahof near Kappel, which are still worked today, are over 400 years old. The Black Forest house is described by Dickinson as very characteristic of the Swabia farmstead type.

 

These human sized hobbit houses are the ones that I grew up around. When I dreamed of 'Chronicles of Narnia' adventures, these houses, especially covered in snow, were as close as fantasy dwellings that I saw as a kid.