Traditional Vietnamese House: More Than Just A House

Vietnamese immigrants place the most value on their homes. Vietnam's long-established agricultural culture necessitates a system of self-sufficient villages. Farmers give birth and raise their children in their dwellings, which also serve as the roofs over which they live and store their tools and grain.

Traditional Vietnamese houses serve as both a living space and a representation of Vietnamese culture. Traditional Vietnamese house is the essence that has been distilled over time, becoming the location where every family member feels most at home. They constantly long to return home, no matter how far away they are. Additionally, ceremonies, worship, weddings, and other events take place in the dwelling. Vietnamese people consider their homes to be more than just physical structures. This blog gives you a glimpse inside a traditional Vietnamese house.

Every nation, every country found its own appropriate architectural forms during the struggle for survival to withstand the severe elements. Vietnamese people have developed a house style over the years that fits both their culture and the country's natural environment.

Due to the hot, humid climate, "open architecture” is primarily used in Vietnam's old dwellings. Its use of windows, trees, and space makes it tall, airy, and close to the natural world. Water is a necessary component of old Vietnamese architecture (ponds, rockeries), representing yin and yang harmony in Vietnamese culture. The house is also connected to other public structures like the village market, gate, or bridge. Typically, the main house has an odd number of compartments—1, 3, or 5—with one or two private rooms on each of its two sides. The odd numbers in Vietnamese culture stand for good fortune and eternity. In order to receive sunshine in the winter and wind in the summer, the main house often faces south. Large trees are typically planted in front of houses to welcome good wind, and shrubs are planted in back to deflect cold wind.

Some of traditional Vietnamese houses are: 

• - Village House
• - Stilt House
• - Rong House (tall house)
• - Longhouse 
• - Quan Lan Communal House
• - House of H’Mong
• - Pao’s  house
• - Trinh Tuong House

I. Traditional Village House

The Viet (Kinh), who make up 90% of the Vietnamese population, are the creators of Vietnam's traditional village houses. For the Kinh, constructing a traditional Vietnamese house is the most important task of a lifetime and comes first. Each traditional Vietnamese house in a Vietnamese village is both open and private at the same time, creating a diverse community. Traditional country homes are built in a variety of architectural styles. However, the Red River delta's main house and sub-houses and the character Mon style, which is reserved for affluent families and features the main house in the middle and two wing-houses on either side, remain the two most popular architectural styles.

Vietnamese people have created eco-friendly buildings over the course of their lengthy history. The main house, the wing houses, the gate, the fish pond, the cow breeding field, the garden, the fence, the chickens, and the drying yard make up a traditional home.

II. Quan Lan Communal House

Many traditional Vietnamese houses can still be seen in historic villages all across Hanoi, other provinces, including the Bac Ninh province. The main house, which can contain one, three, five, or seven rooms and two-wing dwellings covering roughly 70 to 80 sq m, including its front lobby, is the most important component. The ancestral altar and reception areas are located in the center's three main rooms. The wife and children sleep in the wing-houses or sub-houses, while the husband's bed is situated in the main space.

The smaller house is used to hold the servant's belongings and the kitchen, while the two wing-houses are used for sleeping and storing rice and other necessities. Doors from the main house are occasionally taken out to connect the interior space to the backyard. Typically, an areca tree in the front and a coconut bush in the back beautify the garden.

III. Traditional Vietnamese House of H’Mong

Whether the family is wealthy or not, all H'Mong homes are built according to the same model. The main house has three rooms, two doors—one main and one additional—and at least two windows. There may be one or two lean-toes on the home, but they are not connected to the three rooms in the main structure. The central and typically largest of these three chambers is used for mealtimes, inviting guests, and worshiping the ancestors. The owner's bedroom and the kitchen are located in the left compartment, while the guest bedrooms are located in the right compartment.

Since the H'mong live primarily in hilly places, their homes must be warm in the winter and cool in the summer, as well as safe from wild animals. It is important to choose the foundation soil very carefully. Ground leveling, foundation building, and wall construction follow after selecting the best soil. Strangers and women are both prohibited from entering the building's grounds.

IV. Pao’s traditional Vietnamese house in Ha Giang

The main house of this house has three rooms, each with two doors (one main gate door, another door, and at least two windows). One or two additional wings that are independent from the main house may be present in the home. The layout of the three rooms is as follows: the central room is used to greet guests, host family dinners, and offer ancestor worship. The left room serves as the bedroom quarters for the married couple and the kitchen. Only the best wood, such as cane or apricot, is used to construct the main gate door. The H'mong believe that opening a door gate is equivalent to entering another human's gut, hence the latches and hinges can only be made of wood.

Another aspect of H'mong architecture is the usage of stone walls that were constructed by family members over the course of several months by collecting stones from the road around the house. The owner's plant numerous apricot and plum trees all around the house.

V. Stilt House - A traditional Vietnamese house

Wood, bamboo, cane, or rattan are used to construct stilt homes. Rice drying space is often found one or two steps below the main level of a classic stilt house. Either no one uses the space under the home, or it serves as a corral for animals.

In northwest Vietnam, particularly Lang Son and Cao Bang, the Tay and Nung people frequently construct their stilt house against a slope. The front of the stilt house should ideally have a view of a field; close-ups of mountains, rivers, and forests should be avoided. The Tay and Nung consider a mountain top to be similar to an arrow that, if pointed towards a dwelling, could harm the occupants. In contrast, trees are connected to ferocious animals and are supposed to harm livestock. It is believed that money will flow away from a property toward nearby streams.

VI. Rong House 

The Rong house is a common dwelling place for various ethnic communities. It was constructed during the village's founding, and each inhabitant is required to help build the house. The home has the remarkable feature of being visible to tourists entering the town from all sides. All village events, including weddings, gatherings, ceremonies, and festivals, take place in the Rong house.

The Rong house, which is situated in the middle of the hamlet, is made mostly of natural materials like grass, bamboo, wood, etc. Each ethnic group's Rong home has unique architectural, decorative, and design features. The Rong home is, on the whole, significantly larger than a typical house with high architecture. There are houses up to 18 meters high with hammer-shaped roofs that slope downward and appear to be sturdy. Eight large wooden pillars support the top of the home, which is covered in grass leaves that have been extensively dried until they are golden dry.

VII. Longhouse of the Ede

The longhouse is substantially longer and is built on lower stilts. Depending on how many people live in the house, its length ranges from 15 to 100 meters. The house is the nation's most notable example of an old matriarchy. The longhouse, which serves as the clan's main residence, is typically expanded when a female clan member marries.

Longhouse ,the traditional Vietnamese house, was constructed out of bamboo and wood. The roof is never in need of being replaced because it is thatched with grass that is almost 20 cm thick. The host's chair, long bench, and visitor's chair are all positioned near the home's entryway, where the occupants also greet visitors. Additionally placed on the wall for adornment are chieng and gongs.

VIII. Trinh Tuong House

Minorities like the Ha Nhi or H'Mong live in this traditional Vietnamese house. The Trinh Tuong homes like enormous mushrooms covered in mountains from a distance. The only distinction between Ha Nhi homes and H'mong homes is that Ha Nhi homes must be built on reddish clay soil. The house's absence of windows—it only had one or two roof holes—was one of its most intriguing features.