History of South-Savo and Lake Saimaa
ON THE PIER
Living on the shores of Lake Saimaa

 

A SAVO DWELLING

A village in southern Savo typically encompassed four or five houses, often situated on hilltops. Settlement was scattered, houses far apart and villages sprang up also in the archipelago dozens of kilometres away from residential centres. In addition to the main building, a property would have five or six additional buildings. Contrary to the enclosed yards adopted in Ostrobothnia, the specific location for the outside buildings in Savo was determined by the purpose they served. The main building was erected on the highest spot, either on a hill or bank. Other buildings included; cattle sheds, a barn, a pigsty, a lavatory, a sheep-pen, stables, a coach house, cellars, a workshop, outhouses and a sauna.

For a long time, main buildings were chimneyless living quarters; it was not until the 1920’s that many of the houses in remote areas of southern Savo opted for chimney-assisted stoves. A family in Sääminki was known to have lived in a chimneyless house until 1963. The farmhouse living room was everyone’s abode in wintertime, whereas outhouses served as sleeping quarters in summer and early autumn. The living area had a stove, wall benches and a long table. Also chairs, benches, chests for storage, wall and corner cupboards, beds with posts, cots, cabinets, side-boards and rocking chairs were part of the furnishing. Lighting was provided by a fire in the stove, tallow candles and oil lamps.

Due to a fire risk, the sauna and kiln were situated further away from the yard. Eastern Finns bathed customarily three times a week, and every night during the busy work season in summertime. Each property had at least one outhouse, although sometimes there was one for each member of the family. The outhouses were usually one-storied, and functioned both as storage places for foodstuffs and clothes and as sleeping areas for the youth and servants in the summertime.

 

29.7.2005