The farmsteads along the Ostrobothnian coast looked more or less like the farmstead here at Stundars. But the buildings were often placed even more fully in a square formation, like a fort. This was intended to protect people, as well as farm animals, from cold winds and hungry predators. The largest house is the main house, where the farmer lived in one big room with his wife, children and servants during the winters. The smaller cottage is where we bake the famous Stundars doughnut buns nowadays. But cottages of that kind could also be where the farmer’s parents lived out their final years. To the left is the stables, and behind that was the privy, or outhouse. Opposite the big house, you have the animal barn with its half stone wall and hayloft on top. The daughters and maids of the household slept in the loft during the summers, and underneath, everything from carriages to farm implements was stored. Right behind the loft, there is a grainshed and a milkshed. And finally, some way off, in order to minimize the fire danger, there was a smoke sauna, a threshing shed and a smithy.
The Farmhouse and Courtyard
