Chapter 34: House Expansion: Accommodating More People
Year 0002, IX-XI Month: The Imperium
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Self Sufficiency
The fall season was drawing to a close; roughly a month or so remained before winter would blanket the land once more in its frigid embrace. Every villager had begun gathering essential resources for winter survival—primarily food stores and kindling wood for the long, cold months ahead.
An additional plot of garden fields had recently been added to the back of August's longhouse, a designated agricultural area for now, until the farmlands would be restored. They had implemented their previous plan to add two new 8 m² garden fields dedicated to potato cultivation with an expected yield of 394 kg of successful harvest; it is a hardy source of staple food crop that can be stored all throughout winter. In total, they now possessed six, 8x8 m² or 384 m² of arable land where they could grow a diverse food source for their winter store—a modest but vital improvement to their self-sufficiency.
August had finally granted the trio their own ownership of one plot of fields, within the current garden fields that they would have to manage themselves. While the remaining plot of fields are assigned to Gel and the newcomers.
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The Need For Expansion
A critical discussion was underway around the central hearth of the longhouse. The current living area in the dwelling could no longer adequately accommodate the growing number of people who needed personal space. This had become especially apparent with the recent arrival of a married couple who required a separate room for privacy and intimacy.
*SNUSNU O One might wonder why they didn't simply repurpose the other houses in the village. The answer was straightforward—those structures had become uninhabitable. Most of the remaining houses had deteriorated significantly beyond their previous condition. Several dwellings near the village entrance had already been dismantled by August, their salvageable materials repurposed for other needs.
Only two serviceable houses remained in the village: the longhouse where August originally lived and another that he had converted into storage and workshop space. The second house overflowed with tools and miscellaneous items salvaged from the other dwellings—implements and materials that would prove useful for the village's revival. This makeshift warehouse couldn't be cleared for living space without losing valuable resources and workspace.
This left August's longhouse as the only viable option. It had remained solid and sturdy through the years, largely because of its superior construction. The foundation consisted primarily of stone flooring, with half of the lower walls made of the same durable material. The support columns and framework combined stone and logs, reinforced with a medieval mortar that had withstood the test of time. The upper half was constructed entirely of wood, with walls plastered with daub—a mixture of mud, straw, and clay—providing excellent insulation against the harsh winter cold.
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The Longhouse Design
The longhouse had survived the village raid relatively unscathed due to its location being deeper within the settlement. The impressive structure measured 120 feet in length, 30 feet in width, and stood approximately 15 feet tall at its highest point. Above the central hall, where the open hearth burned day and night, rose an additional 5-foot smoke turret that functioned as a chimney, drawing smoke upward and away from the living spaces.
Hidden beneath the structure lay a root cellar measuring 20 feet long, 15 feet wide, and extending 15 feet into the earth—a crucial space for food preservation throughout the seasons. The available living space was actually quite generous for a family of four, though now it needed to accommodate more than twice that number.
The average dwelling in this village surpassed the typical homes found outside the settlement in both size and comfort. The longhouses were constructed with both immediate comfort and future expansion in mind—a foresight that would now prove invaluable.
The longhouse was divided into three primary sectors with two extensions:
**The Main Hall**
Occupied approximately 40% (67 m²) of the available space. This central area housed the hearth—the literal and figurative heart of the home—where most of the inhabitants currently slept and used as a living space, especially during the bitter winter nights when clustering near the fire provided essential warmth.
**The Bedrooms**
Occupied roughly 30% (50 m²) of the space. This section was subdivided into the master bedroom, where August's parents had once slept, and two smaller adjacent rooms—August's bedroom and his sister's. These rooms currently stood largely unused for sleeping; August had repurposed his former bedroom primarily for storing clothing and personal gear. This arrangement would soon change with the influx of additional residents, though currently everyone slept in the main hall around the hearth for warmth and convenience.
**The Kitchen and Dining Area**
Took up the remaining 30% (50 m²). This multipurpose space served as a dining area, food preparation space, pantry, and larder. Directly beneath this section lay the hidden root cellar, which was slated for expansion to its maximum potential size of 36 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet deep—providing a substantial 459 cubic meters of cool storage space for preserving root vegetables, fermented foods, and other provisions.
The structure also featured a small front porch at the main entrance and an outdoor privy attached to the rear of the house near the garden—simple but essential amenities for a medieval dwelling.
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The Expansion Debate
The household was divided over the proposed expansion strategy. They debated two primary options: adding a second floor to the existing structure or extending the longhouse horizontally by building an additional attached wing.
The vote split nearly evenly among the eleven inhabitants, with six ultimately supporting the second-floor addition. The division fell along interesting lines: Team One—advocating for vertical expansion—consisted of all the women in the group plus the newest arrival, a boy named Adam who is the son of Red and Theressa Peerce. Team Two—favoring horizontal expansion—comprised all the adult men except August, who found himself torn between the practical considerations of both approaches.
As the final voter, August's decision would break the tie. Unable to commit to either option, he accepted Christopher's suggestion of a coin toss to determine his vote. Team One chose heads, Team Two tails, and with bated breath, they watched as August flipped the coin high into the air. It spun briefly on the wooden floor before settling—heads up. Team One had won.
The men who had voted for horizontal expansion groaned audibly. They well understood that building upward presented significantly greater challenges than extending outward. However, they could find some consolation in the fact that they wouldn't need to dig new foundations or haul heavy stones for new walls. With grudging acceptance, they respected the outcome and the will of the majority.
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Gathering Materials
The following days saw a flurry of activity in the nearby forest. Unlike earlier times when August and Erik worked alone, they now had a substantial workforce: Uncles Jonathan, Red, and Christopher led the effort, with Bren and young Adam Peerce serving as assistants. Together, they felled trees, stripped bark, and prepared timber throughout the second month of fall, following their small commemorative harvest festival in the first month.
Their coordinated efforts yielded impressive results—by month's end, they had amassed sufficient materials to begin the first stage of construction. Logs of various sizes were stacked and sorted according to their intended purpose: massive support beams, floor joists, wall studs, and rafters. Oak was selected for structural elements that would bear weight, while pine and other lighter woods were designated for interior walls and finishing work.
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The Construction Plan
Recognizing that completing the entire second floor before winter's arrival would be impossible, they devised a staged approach:
**Stage One**
Would focus on adding a second floor above the existing bedrooms—their most immediate need for accommodating the growing household.
**Stage Two**
Would extend the second floor over the Main Hall—a considerable undertaking since this area remained in constant use.
**Stage Three**
Would complete the expansion by extending upward above the kitchen and dining area, adding even more bedroom space.
With this phased plan established, they began hauling the felled logs while carefully dismantling the roof above the bedroom section. Upon inspection, they discovered that much of the existing roofing material remained in excellent condition. The tar-coated wooden shingles showed minimal wear, and the massive timber trusses and flexible rafters exhibited no signs of rot or structural weakness.
This fortunate discovery meant they could salvage and reuse most of the roofing materials, significantly reducing both their workload and the resources required. Their primary tasks would involve constructing the new supporting walls, installing floor joists reinforced by additional columns, and ensuring proper insulation for the upper level, which would naturally receive less heat from the central hearth below.
For insulation, they prepared additional daub—the time-tested mixture of mud, clay, and straw that had served the original structure so well. The women took charge of this process, mixing precise proportions of each component to achieve the optimal consistency for both application and insulation properties.
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Progress, Completion and the Winter Season
Day by day, the first stage of the second floor took shape. The men worked on the heavy structural elements while the women and children prepared materials, delivered tools, and began crafting the furnishings that would eventually fill the new spaces. Their collective effort transformed the skeletal framework into recognizable rooms surprisingly quickly.
By the first day of the third month of fall, the exterior skeleton of the first stage stood complete. The interior structure had taken definitive shape, with the floor joists, supporting columns, and interior wall frames all in place. The upper level had been divided into three distinct sections, complete with window frames that would admit precious light and door frames awaiting their doors.
All that remained for this section was to craft and install the furniture and doors—and, crucially, to build the staircase that would provide access to the new second floor. This last element highlighted the importance of commencing the second stage of construction promptly.
As the first snowflakes threatened, they redirected their efforts toward completing the exterior elements of the second stage—walls, roof, windows, and the extension of the roof turret to accommodate the increased height. With remarkable efficiency born of necessity, they managed to enclose the structure before the first heavy snowfall.
When winter finally arrived in earnest, their exterior work came to a natural conclusion, but the project continued unabated. Their activities shifted indoors, where they methodically worked on interior elements: finishing the upstairs flooring, planning for the crucial staircase, and creating the connections between the first stage bedrooms and the areas that would eventually become the third stage.
As snow accumulated outside, the expanded longhouse took on its new form within—a testament to their collective determination, skill, and foresight. What had begun as a simple dwelling would become a proper home for their growing community, with space for privacy, community, and the separate activities that would sustain them through the winter and beyond