Eo Myeong-gi’s House, Goseong

The house was bought in the 1860s by Eo Yong-su, an ancestor of the present owner, Eo Myeong-gi, two generations back. A house was first built on this site about 400 years ago; after it burned down, Eo Tae-jun is said to have restored it to its original appearance around 1750, the twenty-sixth year of King Yeongjo. The site occupies a broad, sloping hillside. An ㄱ-shaped main house (momchae) stands with a mill to its left, servants' quarters (haengnangchae) to its right, and a shed building to the rear. The main house combines the women's and men's quarters in a single building rather than as separate structures. It measures four bays across the front and three bays deep, a three-row gyeopjip, a deep, multi-row house type used in this region. On the left of the building are a spacious kitchen and a cattle shed; the main room, side room and daecheong hall occupy the centre; and to the right, three sarang rooms are arranged one behind another. Projecting the cattle shed forward of the kitchen is a floor-plan feature commonly seen in Goseong County. A roof was built over the gap between the kitchen and the cattle shed, and a built-in grain chest was fitted at the rear for storing grain. Of the sarang rooms, the foremost served as the owner's everyday quarters, while the two rooms behind it were used to receive guests. A notable feature of this house is the deogeumae, the space between the roof and the ceiling, which can be seen above the main room, the upper room and the middle room alike. It was used as storage space for household items when needed, and it also kept out the cold air coming down from the roof. It is an exemplary building: imposing in scale, skilfully constructed, and relatively faithful to traditional building conventions. This heritage site is generally open to visitors, but access may be restricted at times due to the personal circumstances of the owner or others.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Goseong, Gangwon

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산