Gulf houses
„Cathedrals of work“ is a good term for the Gulf today. They characterize the picture of our cultural landscape at the North Sea coast and can compete, in terms of space, with churches and castles.
A cathedral? Anyone who has ever stood under the roof of an empty barn in the marsh early summer will never forget the impression of space. But there are also more modest buildings on the Geest or on the fen, even poor houses of fen colonists. But these houses are too based on the brilliant construction of their bigger brothers and sisters.
All these farmhouses are distinctive and unique, and so it's no surprise that the most magnificent specimens among them were given name: Belvedere, Helenenhof, Pekelhering or Leeshaus. Other names indicate the original importance of the house: Schatthaus, Kloster (monastery) Muhde or Logumer Vorwerk (barbican). In all cases you can say that the Gulf houses had a history of slavery and drudgery. So we are right to call them “Cathedrals of work“.
Gulf house Sanders in Krummhörn-Schoonorth
The farmhouse of the Sanders family had an eventful history: the living-part was built in 1850, the outside form was enriched in 1900 with a rendering decoration, and the living-part was extended by a great annex.
Farm worker house in Hinte-Suurhusen
Since the mid 19th century, the great farmhouses of the marshes no longer correspond to the wide-spread romantic image of a farm; at that time, they already had the character of real agricultural enterprises.
Hanken farm in Bockhorn-Steinhausen
Steinhausen is situated between marsh area and Geest. For a long time, the Gulfhaus was the farmhouse of the marsh regions, but on the Geest, until the 19th century, the Lower German Hallenhaus (hall house) was predominating.
