The Minang Kabau House

  The Minangkabau house is the most striking, beautiful and distinctive in Indonesia. The house itself is built on piles and has an oblong shape. The saddle backed roof is formed by a load-bearing ridge-beam artistically. Each roof section ends in a graceful horn-like which sweeps upward to a narrow point, sometimes twice as high as the center of the ridge.

       The back part of the family house is divided into small rooms. These are separated from one another by planks, bamboo or clothe and serve as sleeping quarter for the married and marriageable girls. The fore room contains a large fire place and serves as a communal family room. Often also slept in by children and unmarried.

        The space beneath the floor of the dwelling lodges the domestic stock consisting of buffaloes. Cows, chicken, and ducks.

         Externally, the house is decorated with rectangular panels covered with floral motifs which hide the abutments of the beams which are supporting the floor. In general, the building is made of wood and bamboo. Various sorts of leaves are used for roofing.

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