Half-stone house

Merchant semi-stone house of Verkhneudinsk . There is a shop on the ground floor.

A half-stone house is a type of urban dwelling that became widespread in Russian cities in the 19th century . At the same time, this is not entirely true. The use in the construction of wood and stone at the same time took place in the Middle Ages. For example, in Pskov land, stone-stone fortresses (Velje) were built. In addition, the ancient type of urban building in Russia - the chambers, as a rule, had from one to three stone (brick) floors, and one or two wooden floors were already built on top. If stone floors were used for household purposes, then wooden, on the contrary, was used as housing.

In the XIX century, brick was produced in small quantities and was expensive. Brick was used for the construction of public and religious buildings. Cities were built up with wooden residential buildings.

In the middle of the XIX century, semi-stone houses became widespread. The ground floor or first floor of such a house was built of stone, and the upper floor of wood. This increased the strength of the building and fire safety.

Half-stone houses were popular among poor merchants and wealthy bourgeois .

The roof of the half-stone house was covered with iron, which testified to the wealth of the owner. The roof, covered with iron, most often painted in red, or green.

Meshchansky semi-stone house of Krasnoyarsk. The ground floor is residential, and to save energy, it is buried below the level of soil freezing.

Merchants' houses on the ground floor and basement could house a warehouse, a store, a shop, an office; lived a servant, or distant relatives. The second floor was residential. The long side of the house was oriented toward the courtyard. From the street, on the ground floor was the entrance to the store, or shop.

The owners lived in the bourgeois houses on the first floor, and the second floor could be rented out.