Homestead with Reinforced Enclosure, Magura, Brasov County

This type of building has its origin in the Dacian period and it was the most common type of architectural design in the Bran area until the end of the 19th century. As a rule, homesteads with reinforced enclosures have four sides though there are also units with six, nine, or even twelve sides. Our exhibit is representative of these types of structures from the point of view of its floor plan and of its constitutive elements. Its main parts are the house proper, which includes the porch, a small room, a large room, and a pantry.There are two stables for the livestock and a boiling room with a cellar underneath. All these structures are found within the enclosure while the sheep pen is outside the enclosure. The building has a stone foundation and is made of thick fir beams ending in butt joints. The four-sloped roof is covered with shingles that are attached with wooden nails to the battening. The courtyard is paved with stones with a boardwalk running around it. The haylofts of the stables communicate with the lofts above the enclosure and the boiling-room but not with the loft above the living quarter,s which helps prevent the hay from catching fire. Its dimensions, as well as the marked slope of the roof give the building an air of monumentality.