Addison Sod House | |
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Type | Homestead |
Location | Oakdale No. 320, Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada |
Coordinates | 51°37′17″N109°0′58″W / 51.62139°N 109.01611°W |
Built | 1909–1911 |
Architectural style(s) | Sod house |
Governing body | Private Residence |
Website | Addison Sod House |
Designated |
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Addison Sod House is a Saskatchewan homestead site made of grass or sod which is over a hundred years old and has been designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.
This sod home was used by James Addison and his family 10 miles (16 km) north of Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada and 6.5 miles (10.5 km) east on Highway 21. His property held a barn, two sheds, shelterbelt as well as dugout. Sod houses were a popular construction choice in the early 1900s by the early homesteaders to Saskatchewan and were similar to an earth sheltering type of house. Whereas many earth sheltering houses were built into hills, a 'soddie' had the base dug down about 3 feet (0.91 m) below the residence square footage area. A layer of buffalo, oxen or cattle chips which was then covered over with a well packed layer of clay. The walls were made of pieces of sod approximately 4 inches (100 mm) deep, 3 feet (0.91 m) wide, and 4 to 5 feet (1.5 m) long. These sod pieces were laid in overlapping fashion to construct all four walls. These walls would provide shelter in its enclosed space from precipitation, wind, heat, and the cold of 40 degree below winters, and insulation against the heat of 40 degree above summers. The roofs were generally made of aspen logs laid across the walls, and these logs covered in sod. Heavy spring rains were the main downfall of these homes as the sod on the roof, dried out from winter, and only supported with the logs would wash away with the water. Most homesteaders used the sod house as a temporary house until a wooden or brick structure was built. [1]
This particular sod house had several unique features which has helped it to survive until this day, over a century after first construction. The sod chosen were from a dried up waterlogged area or a dried up slough so the grass roots were quite thick. Sods are usually overlapped when made into walls, however, Addison made a hole in the center of each sod piece so that as the piece of sod dried it would tend to crumble in on itself, rather than outwards. He also made each wall triangular, so that the width of the wall at the base was wider than the top. The roofs which were the downfall of most sod houses was not typical on Addison's sod house. He departed from using sod for the roof, but made a wooden hip roof with wood shingles eliminating water damage from spring rains, [2] and winter snow melting. Addison also protected his sod walls from the elements, first by growing vines, then by covering the exterior with cedar shingles. With the advent new technologies in home construction, the cedar shingles were replaced with asphalt, then with vinyl siding. [3]
James Addison and his descendants have continuously occupied the house since its construction. The family received an award for long term stewardship of a heritage property from Saskatchewan's lieutenant governor in 2017. [4]
The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.
An earth shelter, also called an earth house, earth bermed house, or underground house, is a structure with earth (soil) against the walls, on the roof, or that is entirely buried underground.
Coleville is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Oakdale No. 320 and Census Division No. 13. The village's main economic factors are oil and farming, namesake of the Coleville oilfields. The village is named for Malcolm Cole who became the community's first postmaster in 1908.
Cob, cobb, or clom is a natural building material made from subsoil, water, fibrous organic material, and sometimes lime. The contents of subsoil vary, and if it does not contain the right mixture, it can be modified with sand or clay. Cob is fireproof, resistant to seismic activity, and uses low-cost materials, although it is very labour intensive. It can be used to create artistic and sculptural forms, and its use has been revived in recent years by the natural building and sustainability movements.
A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settlers.
Cordwood construction is a term used for a natural building method in which short logs are piled crosswise to build a wall, using mortar or cob to permanently secure them. This technique can use local materials at minimal cost.
Siding or wall cladding is the protective material attached to the exterior side of a wall of a house or other building. Along with the roof, it forms the first line of defense against the elements, most importantly sun, rain/snow, heat and cold, thus creating a stable, more comfortable environment on the interior side. The siding material and style also can enhance or detract from the building's beauty. There is a wide and expanding variety of materials to side with, both natural and artificial, each with its own benefits and drawbacks. Masonry walls as such do not require siding, but any wall can be sided. Walls that are internally framed, whether with wood, or steel I-beams, however, must always be sided.
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A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hides, fabric, or mud using techniques passed down through the generations.
The sod house or soddy was an often used alternative to the log cabin during frontier settlement of the Great Plains of Canada and the United States in the 1800s and early 1900s. Primarily used at first for animal shelters, corrals, and fences, if the prairie lacked standard building materials such as wood or stone, or the poverty of the settlers precluded purchasing standard building materials, sod from thickly-rooted prairie grass was abundant, free, and could be used for house construction. Prairie grass has a much thicker, tougher root structure than a modern lawn.
An earth structure is a building or other structure made largely from soil. Since soil is a widely available material, it has been used in construction since prehistoric times. It may be combined with other materials, compressed and/or baked to add strength.
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A sod roof, or turf roof, is a traditional Scandinavian type of green roof covered with sod on top of several layers of birch bark on gently sloping wooden roof boards. Until the late 19th century, it was the most common roof on rural log houses in Norway and large parts of the rest of Scandinavia. Its distribution roughly corresponds to the distribution of the log building technique in the vernacular architecture of Finland and the Scandinavian peninsula. The load of approximately 250 kg per m2 of a sod roof is an advantage because it helps to compress the logs and make the walls more draught-proof. In winter the total load may well increase to 400 or 500 kg per m2 because of snow. Sod is also a reasonably efficient insulator in a cold climate. The birch bark underneath ensures that the roof will be waterproof.
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A slab hut is a kind of dwelling or shed made from slabs of split or sawn timber. It was a common form of construction used by settlers in Australia and New Zealand during their nations' colonial periods.
The McCauley and Meyer Barns in Yosemite National Park are the last barns in the park that retain their original characteristics as structures built by homesteaders. The McCauley barn and the two Meyer barns represent different construction techniques and styles of design.
The Spellman McLaughlin Home is a historic home on Cayman Brac, Cayman Islands. Located in Creek, Cayman Brac, the home stands on the top of a small hill alongside Creek Road.
The William R. Dowse House, more commonly known as the Dowse Sod House, is a sod house in Custer County in the central portion of the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. It was built in 1900 and occupied until 1959. After a long period of neglect, it was restored beginning in about 1981, and opened as a museum in 1982.
The John J. and Martha Sodergren Homestead is a historic late 19th-century farmstead in Maine State Route 161 in Stockholm, Maine. The central feature of the nearly 80-acre (32 ha) property is a modest house, built out of logs by Swedish immigrants. The property, one of the few remaining log structures built by Swedish immigrants in the state, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007