Historic House of Botong-ri, Yeoju

This house has been home for generations to the Hasan-gun branch of the Changnyeong Jo clan in Botong-ri, Daesin-myeon, Yeoju. Based on a ridge-beam inscription discovered during roof repairs to the main hall in 1999, together with clan records and architectural style, the house is presumed to have been built in the 13th year of King Sunjo's reign (1813) by Jo Yun-dae, who served as Minister of Personnel, and his sons Jo Bong-jin and Jo Yong-jin. The house is also historically significant as the residence of the independence activist Jo Seong-hwan and of Yi Man-eung, a righteous-army leader from Chuncheon. The overall layout forms a quadrangular (ㅁ-shaped) plan, with the outer hall standing across from and screening the main hall. The main gate is said to have originally stood in the outer servants' quarters, which have since been demolished and no longer remain. To the right of the middle gate leading to the inner courtyard stands a straight (一-shaped) outer hall, and beyond the main gate, in the inner courtyard, stands a U (ㄷ-shaped) main hall centred on the main bedroom and the wooden-floored hall (daecheong). A flower bed was made in the middle of the inner courtyard so that the main hall could not be seen from the outer hall. To the left of the main bedroom the kitchen is set at an angle, with a pantry, a kitchen-maid's room and a wooden floor beyond it. To the right of the daecheong are a floored room, a side room and another kitchen; next to this kitchen a small outer hall with two rooms and a wooden floor projects outward. Although Joseon-period upper-class houses occasionally had a small outer hall, it is very rare for one to be attached to the rear of the main hall as in this house. In the back garden of the main hall stands a long, straight (一-shaped) storehouse building. The main outer hall is arranged in a straight line comprising the large sarangbang, the large sarang daecheong, a smaller sarangbang and the head daecheong, with a long veranda running along the front; in front of the large sarangbang a raised timber-floored pavilion projects towards the yard. The main bedroom and daecheong, and the sarangbang and sarang daecheong, are each fitted with folding doors that could be lifted and hung up, allowing the spaces to be opened for cool ventilation in summer. Although the original straight (一-shaped) servants' quarters that once stood in front of the house no longer survive, the date of construction is relatively well established, and the house was carefully built by skilled carpenters following proper technique, making it a house of a refinement rarely found in the surrounding area. It also holds academic value as an example of such a highly accomplished house existing in the small town of Yeoju. This heritage site is generally open to visitors, but access may be restricted at times due to the personal circumstances of the owner.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeoju, Gyeonggi

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산