Lezuza - History Lab

Plan of the house of María Arenas Romero. Lezuza, 1751

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000

By studying the house and its distribution by rooms, it is easier to understand the way in which most of the life of the neighbours of the late seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century was spent. It is important to emphasise that the social position and wealth of the owners directly conditioned the location, typology and belongings in their houses. As the author (Hernández, 2016) rightly states: “the house in the Ancien Régime is not a static, closed and immovable entity, but is in permanent construction and interconnected with the world around it”.
The image is a plan of a house in Lezuza (Albacete) of around 107m2 on the ground floor, but most of it is used to house the stables, the hayloft and the courtyard, with just a quarter of the total space reserved for the home and the living quarters in a single body. The separation between the bedrooms and the kitchen consists of an opening, covered only on some occasions with a screen or a door to divide the rooms. The upper floor is left with a space of approximately 27 m2 for the chamber, which used to occupy the upper part of the houses, especially the living area as it is presented here.

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Volumetric plan of a farmhouse in Lezuza (Albacete) in the mid-18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:09 +0000

During the Modern Age, houses were not only found within cities, towns or villages; they could also be located away from population centres, surrounded by land for cultivation or livestock farming. These are the farmhouses. These integrated residential and economic functions of the primary sector into their structure. The spatial and functional organisation of their construction is conditioned by their purpose, although it was common for them to be built around a central courtyard with an independent exit. Surrounding the courtyard would be the areas where animals or farm implements were kept, while the residential rooms would be located in the main façade area.
The volumetric plan shown here corresponds to the Casa Cucharro, located in the municipality of Lezuza (Albacete). It is a complex made up of several dwellings and courtyards. The main dwelling corresponds to the owners, while the adjoining ones are reserved for the workers. The courtyard was used for economic work, and is surrounded by hutches for sheltering the animals at night. The building complex is crowned by a chamber used as a storehouse for grain, harvesting tools and other items of little daily use.

The post Volumetric plan of a farmhouse in Lezuza (Albacete) in the mid-18th century first appeared on History Lab.

Surroundings of a farmhouse in the mid-18th century. Lezuza (Albacete)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:09 +0000

During the Modern Age, it was common for large landowners to have farmhouses to carry out agricultural or livestock work. These were distributed around population centres, in the countryside and, if possible, near a river or stream. The constructive complexes were constituted as independent labour cells scattered around the territory, with bedrooms, kitchen, pantry, storage of grain, animals and farm implements. Architecturally, the composition consisted of a central courtyard surrounded by rooms for work and for storing livestock, such as corrals and stables. This courtyard had a direct exit to the outside without the need to pass through the rest of the house. The residential rooms were divided: while the owners occupied the main house, usually in the front area, in front of the courtyard, the workers occupied secondary rooms and independent outbuildings. The kitchen was large enough to bring the workers together. Finally, the building materials used were intended to ensure thermal insulation and waterproofing.

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The post Surroundings of a farmhouse in the mid-18th century. Lezuza (Albacete) first appeared on History Lab.

Plan of a perched house in 1752. Lezuza

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:09 +0000

In the Modern Age, the type and composition of the dwelling was determined by the economic level of the individuals who lived there. Of the diverse typology that existed, the perched houses were the most common in inland Spain. What is a perched house? They are dwellings with a floor or chamber of low height that were accessed by means of a ladder or a masonry staircase. The floor of the house was made of rammed clay soil, although it could also be made of plaster or wood laid on planks. While the ground floor of the house was divided into several rooms or halls, the second floor had no dividing elements and could occupy all or part of the surface area.
The plan shown here corresponds to the house of the wealthy scribe Cristóbal Vázquez of Lezuza, consisting of a doorway, kitchen, two perched rooms, a hanging, a tack room and a corral. In this case, the first floor is located above the ground floor sections of the rooms and the doorway. The second part of the dwelling, the corral and stables, had its own exit to the outside through a gate to facilitate communication.

The post Plan of a perched house in 1752. Lezuza first appeared on History Lab.

Street of stone and earth in Vandelaras de Arriba (Albacete)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:03 +0000

The rural world has been characterised by sober constructions with costly and durable materials. An example of this can be found in Vandelaras de Arriba, a living witness of historical survival. The photograph shows a stone and earth street with 3 houses in the background. These houses have stone masonry and rammed earth walls, with few windows and no chimneys. The roofs, placed over the chambers of the dwellings, are single-pitched and covered with tiles.

The post Street of stone and earth in Vandelaras de Arriba (Albacete) first appeared on History Lab.

Simple cistern in Encina Hermosa (Lezuza)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:03 +0000

A cistern is a structure that makes it possible to collect and maintain water. Its construction made it possible to keep the water drinkable and prevent contamination; for this purpose, stone and lime masonry walls were used with a height of approximately 2 metres. In this way, the interior was isolated from external agents. The front mouth, through which access to the water resource is gained, is inserted in a round arch with a recessed enclosure. There were also cisterns with other materials and more elaborate construction topologies, with a tiled hipped roof over a square structure, with a door and ventilation holes.

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Masonry staircase to access a chamber. Encina Hermosa (Albacete)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:03 +0000

During the Modern Age, the most basic types of dwellings were the tiled house and the casemented house; what was the difference? While the former only consisted of a ground floor, the latter had another structure in the form of a chamber or first floor. In the latter case, access could be either inside or outside the main core of the home: through a courtyard. The stairs could be made of hand or masonry. The photograph, from the site of Encina Hermosa (Albacete), shows an example of the latter. It is a solid staircase with a stone and mud base, plastered in later periods with cement. At the top of the staircase there is an entrance door to the chamber with a hinge, knocker and eaves made of flared tiles. In the lower part there is a window with glass panes and an iron grille for protection.
Despite its sobriety, the strength of the structure was essential to ensure its durability, especially given the importance of the chamber in modern times, when it was used as a storehouse for grain, farm implements and household goods.

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