Follestadstova
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The Follestadstova cottage is a so-called "røykestue" ("smokehouse") with a log-built main room and a timber-framed hallway or porch. The present apperance of the cottage is an example of how a typical house may have looked in the 16th and 17th centuries. The cottage has been rebuilt and served a variety of uses over the years, and the high foundation and window have been added in more recent times. The cottage was first used as a dwelling, then as a workshop containing a workbench and lathe, a baking table, and a large slab on the hearth for drying cereal and malt for brewing beer. The room with the stone floor was used to store larger receptacles such as baking troughs and brewing vats. The passageway along the side of the house was used as a woodshed. We know that houses with one, two or three rooms were used as dwellings on farms and small-holdings a very long time ago. Single-room homes are thought to be the oldest type of dwelling. The kind of home a family would build depended on local building traditions, what their needs were, and what they could afford.