gyvenamieji kupiškėnų trobesiai - Kultūros paveldo departamentas

VARIETY OF RESIDENTIAL FARMHOUSES OF
KUPIŠKIS
HISTORIAN AUŠRA JONUŠYTĖ
In Kupiškis and its small towns and villages it is still possible to detect
wooden houses that were built at the end of 19th century and in the first
half of the 20th century that are maintained in quite a good condition. The
farmhouses located among century old trees very frequently remember
several generations of families of Kupiškis region who lived here and
store memories of the skillful local woodworkers or builders from faraway
regions who constructed these buildings using the century old traditions,
principles of planning and composition.
This overview describes and summarizes peculiarities of construction
of the remnant houses and farmhouses of Kupiškis region, that were
built at the end of the19th century and the first-fourth decades of the
20th century and were influenced by the traditions of local people, their
wisdom and skills. The material of the field studies on the architecture of
the Kupiškis area that is collected in the archive of Kupiškis Etnographical
Museum and its structural divisions of Laukminiškiai village museum
and Art Gallery of Veronika Šleivytė in Viktariškiai village is used here.
A lot of data that remained in the recorded stories and publications
of the following local people of Kupiškis: Mikalina Glemžaitė, Stefanija
Glemžaitė, Elvyra Glemžaitė, Aliutė Elena Markevičiūtė, Janina Puronienė
and Janina Lauciuvienė. Articles of Pranė Dundulienė, Paulius Galaunė,
Elvyda Lazauskaitė, Kazys Šešelgis, Jurgis Gimbutas, Rasa Bertašiūtė, Jonas
Minkevičius have been used.
Settlement in the Homesteads during the First – Fourth Decades of the
20th Century
After the World War I it became necessary to maintain and alter one’s own
housing and living environment that was impoverished by the war and
shortage. The farmhouses and other buildings that were burnt during
the war were replaced with new ones preserving the traditional ways of
expression. We cannot say that the traditional decorative ornaments and
the ancient wall fragments that were common in the earlier built houses
were disregarded: e.g the Northern wall of the house of Genė Grinevičienė
in Uoginiai village (in the year of 2009) retained four smoke vents.
The architectural style was transfered and maintained through generations:
proportions, porches, ways of siding of the external walls were often used.
Just in one location of Kupiškis district, i.e. in Jurėniškiai village one can
still find street type fragments with remaining authentic buildings, but
mostly in other villages only a few separate houses of linear layout can be
detected.
In the course of many years, approximately since the fourth decade of the
20th century, the farmers who had more land were erecting their houses
and covering the roofs with tin or tiles. Those who had returned from the
United States of America had enough money there to buy land and build
new houses, used advanced technologies and methods of construction
and land cultivation.
Each villager who had bought a house tried to make some adjustments
and alterations of the interior, to paint not only the internal walls but also
the external siding, to replace the deteriorated pieces of wood with new
ones, thus preserving the buildings for many years.
Residential Houses and Farmhouses
The traditional residential house of Kupiškis people of that time is a
farmhouse of two ends, i.e. with living quarters at two sides. The living area
of the house, so-called “gryčia”, is heated, the other part of the house called
pantry or storeroom is cold and is used for welcoming guests, sleeping,
and keeping various household belongings and utensils.
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