History of Housing in Bohemia: Residences in the Czech Republic

Architecture in the Czech Republic dates back to around the ninth century. It was around this period of time in which Slavic tribes settled in the valley of the Vltava River, creating what is now the city of Prague in the state of Bohemia. The people of the area built housing around the palace of their ruling family and on the banks of the Vltava, in order to create shelter for themselves as a means to live. By the time of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the residents of Prague were still living in the same burgher townhouses that were built in the Medieval time period, although they had undergone stylistic renovating (Pavitt #).

The burgher houses in Prague were built from local materials. Builders used mainly stone and brick, and stucco and plaster. Sandstone and limestone are the most prevalent indigenous stone in the Bohemian area, therefore more widely used because it is cheaper and more available than imported alternatives such as marble (Pavlik & Uher #). Stone and brick give the houses structural support and create walls. Both the exterior and interior of the townhouse walls were frequently covered with variating thicknesses of stucco (Pavlik & Uher #). Stucco is a plaster made from a limestone base, giving the walls a white color, which could be left bare or covered in a colored paint. Roofs were supported by ceiling rafters and joists made of wooden beams, and generally built in either gable, hip, or combination styles. The material sheathing the roof is brick material, known as "pantiles," made of clay and formed with ridging (Pavlik & Uher #) that aid in directing water runoff. Wood is also used in the construction of these houses in Prague, but its use, besides in the ceiling, is usually less structural. Wood is found in trims and as steps and doors, plus in furniture construction for the houses' interiors.