Gyeeun House, Naju

This is the head house (jongga) of the Pungsan Hong clan, who live together in Dorae Village; it stands deep within the village and comprises an outer gate quarters (mungan-chae), a main hall (anchae), a men's quarters (sarangchae) and a shrine (sadang). According to an inscription in the main hall, it is presumed to have been built in 1892, the 29th year of Emperor Gojong, while the gate quarters and the shrine are said to have been built later. The gate quarters, topped with a raised solit gate, stands at the end of the lane, its outer wall decorated with patterns. The men's quarters is L-shaped ('ㄱ'-shaped) and faces south. From the west it has a raised summer veranda (numaru), two bays of men's rooms and a kitchen, then turns to run south with a wooden-floored hall (daecheong) and another men's room. The numaru is a raised summer pavilion floor used for entertaining guests. The men's room is divided into an upper and a lower section, with a small storage room behind, and a narrow veranda (toenmaru) in front of the smaller men's quarters. The daecheong has no doors, and the wall connecting to the servants' quarters yard has holes made using convex roof tiles (sutgiwa), allowing anyone entering through the gate to be seen. The main hall is straight ('一'-shaped) in plan and set deep within the site, facing west. From the north it comprises a kitchen room, a kitchen, a large room, two bays of daecheong, and a small room. One bay of the daecheong is divided into an inner and an outer section, with a door fitted at the boundary of the toenmaru. The small room has its own small kitchen with a firebox (agungi). A distinctive feature of this house is that the kitchen is not at the end but in the second bay; this layout appears to have been altered in a later period, though it is not a common arrangement. The shrine is enclosed by a wall to the south of the main hall and stands parallel to it. Although narrow, care was taken with its yard, and a raised plot was created along the southern wall, on which a flowerbed was made. Overall, the house is a representative example of the spatial layout of a yangban (scholar-official) residence in the southern Jeolla region. This heritage site is generally open to visitors, but access may be restricted due to the personal circumstances of the owner or others.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Naju, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산