History and Construction of the Latysh House
The house was begun in 1951 by Iakov Hryhorovych Basans’kyi and his wife Odarka Dmytrivna, both born in 1894. The house was completed in 1953. The house is wattle construction and it was hand-built.
According to their daughter, Polina Iakivna Latysh, there was a house on the land, but it was in disrepair after the war. According to other farmers, wattle houses, the type of house construction used in this area, are not long-lasting and houses need to be rebuilt every 50-75 years. Because the existing structure was in bad condition, the family set up temporary shelter on the land and began construction of the main house.
Construction: The first step was setting up large logs as corner posts. Iakov Basans’kyi did this by eye. Smaller posts were set up between the main ones and window frames were inserted into these. After that came slats about 20 centimeters apart. Then reeds were woven between the slats. The structure of slats, posts, and reeds is covered on both sides with a layer of mud, about 3-4 centimeters thick and this is allowed to dry for about 2 weeks. Then another layer is applied and allowed to dry. The third layer is the final layer.
The floor is made by mixing ashes with the dirt. This will harden to a cement-like undercoating. Though some houses stop at this stage, the Latysh house and most others have a wooden floor about 10 centimeters above the dirt one.
Iakov Hryhorovych Basans’kyi, builder and craftsman. According to Baba Polia, her father was exceptionally gifted as a builder and craftsman. He could sight down a line and lay the straightest fence in the village. He laid out and built the house used for the model with no tools other than a folding ruler. When we began taking measurements for the 3-D model of the house, we found the house to be remarkably even and symmetrical. Differences in height between windows were mere millimeters, for example.
Iakov Basans’kyi was also an exceptional gardener. Again according to Baba Polia, he was very good at grafting fruit trees and could produce the tastiest apples around. Trees planted by him are still to be found throughout the entire village. Unfortunately, Iakov Basans’kyi had a great love of alcohol and the payment that he would receive for most of this work was 100 grams of horilka (vodka or homebrew). According to his daughter, when he started drinking, he could disappear for as long as two weeks. When he came home, he was contrite and a good husband and father, but his tendency to drink was something he just could not shake.
Alcohol killed him in 1953, at the relatively young age of 59. Because there were no sons and the work of a man was desparately needed, the family married Polia to an orphan, Vasyl’ Latysh. Vasyl’ is seven years younger than Polina. But he is big and strong and the sort of person needed by a family with no male members. Vasyl’ lost his father in 1943 and his mother in 1944. As an orphan, his prospects were not good. Thus the marriage between Polina and Vasyl’ was mutually advantageous. Normally, when a couple marries, they move in with the parents of the groom. When a man moves in with the woman’s family, he is considered an adopted son of sorts, a pryimak.
The original covering was a thatch roof. Additions and changes: extensive renovations were done on the house in the 1970’s.
Layout of the Farmstead
The farmstead is divided into a people area and into an animal area. The outhouse and the bathhouse are in the animal section. This is the “unclean” part of the farmstead.
Here are some photographs we took in 2001.
