The Oldest Houses In The World Are More Than Just Historic

The oldest of these three “sibling” properties is the one on the right – number 17 Maza Pils Street. And though it stands in the Latvian capital of Riga, you can thank the Dutch for its existence. It was built back in the late 15th century, you see, when trade with the Netherlands was thriving. The house’s architecture shows a clear influence from the Dutch Renaissance period, too. And if you’re wondering why its top windows are so small, well that was apparently to avoid some of the window tax levied when it was built.

The piggy in the middle – number 19 – can be easily dated since its year of construction is inscribed on the façade: 1646. And if you ever find yourself in Riga, you can explore the Latvian Museum of Architecture inside its doors. But what of the baby brother? Well, the little one in both size and age, number 21 was constructed sometime in the second half of the 17th century.

Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico is thought to be the oldest continually occupied site anywhere in North America. Archeologists believe that people have lived in this place – which is also known as Sky City, for obvious reasons – since at least the 12th century. Today, there’s still a permanent community of around 50 Acoma people who live in the settlement year-round.

If you visit Acoma, the town you’ll see perched on a sandstone mesa dates back to the Spanish colonial time in the mid-17th century. The settlement’s dramatic location on top of 350-foot tall cliffs meant it was a place of safety for its occupants. Sounds like a hair-raising spot to call home, right? That’s nothing! At one time, the only access was via steps cut into the sheer sandstone escarpments. No, thanks.

Way out in the frosty North Atlantic, nestled between Iceland and the Shetland Islands of Scotland, sits the Faroe archipelago. It’s a windswept string of islands, of which Streymoy is the largest. And that particular ocean rock hosts one of the oldest timber-built houses anywhere in the world: Kirkjubøargarður in Kirkjubøur village. Don’t be put off by its tongue-twisting title, though, because this is a property well worth knowing about.

First off, the Kirkjubøargarður farmhouse dates back to the 11th century. That makes it roughly 1,000 years old! And the building is steeped in history. Local folklore has it that the property was constructed entirely from driftwood that had landed up on the beaches of Streymoy. The fact that no trees grow on the Faroes lends credence to the story. A family known as the Paturssons lives in the house nowadays... and they’ve apparently done so for over 400 years!

Wander through the winding alleys of the hamlet of Sévérac-d’Aveyron and you’ll come across this charming home. The 13th-century Maison de Jeanne takes its title from its earliest known occupant, an artist named Jeanne. And though this medieval dwelling might look on the verge of collapse, eight centuries say it’s stood the test of time.

Yes, the timber-framed house has stood proud for several hundred years, despite being built from cob – a mixture of straw and earth. Its higgledy-piggledy structure actually has a purpose, too. Back when it was built, homes were taxed according to the area size of the ground floor only. Clearly, then, it made absolute sense for the original builders to save on cash by creating more space on the upper floors!

These remarkably handsome homes were built before the 11th century in the city of Sana’a in Yemen. That country lies on the southwest extremity of the Arabian Peninsula and overlooks the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. UNESCO notes that there are some 6,000 of these stylish dwellings which, unsurprisingly, are classed by the organization as a World Heritage Site.

UNESCO describes the dwellings as “strikingly decorated with geometric patterns.” And we think that just about sums it up! But what are these curious buildings made of? Well, the ground floor rooms of the homes are constructed from stone, while the towers were formed from “rammed earth and burnt brick.” Whatever the materials, there’s just no denying it: Sana’a is truly stunning.

The Fairbanks House in Dedham, Massachusetts, lays claim to being the oldest timber-framed house in North America. It takes its name from Jonathan and Grace Fairbanks, who landed on the shores of Massachusetts in 1633. The couple brought six children with them, so a substantial house was a must. And though the property still looks remarkably fresh and well-maintained, it was probably completed way back in 1641.

After setting up shop in Massachusetts, the Fairbanks family made a good living from farming. Jonathan’s skilled trade – the manufacture of spinning wheels – brought in some extra cash, too. The home passed on through generations of the family until 1904 when the last of the breed to live there – Rebecca – finally moved out. Ever since, a Fairbanks family trust has operated the home as a museum.

The word “quaint” could have been invented to describe this crumbling-yet-elegant 13th-century mansion in Venice, Italy. If we wanted to categorize the property in more technical terms, though, we might describe it as a Veneto-Byzantine palazzo. And while its iconic canalside location enhances its beauty, that’s also the reason the house is currently abandoned! The lower floor became a victim of rising sea levels some years ago, you see, and now remains permanently flooded.

Over the years, the house has had its share of eminent residents and family feuds. The famed explorer Alvise Ca’ da Mosto was born there in 1432, for example. Some years later, one of his descendants – Chiara da Mosto – apparently had an epic falling out with the family. Their differences were so great, in fact, that she gave the house away to her second husband’s nephew! This wealthy man apparently had houses to spare, so he turned it into a rental property and hotel.

The Cliff Palace and adjacent homes in Colorado’s spectacular Mesa Verde National Park are thought to have been built between 1190 and 1270. That means they took several decades to complete! And it’s no wonder, seeing as the structures were melded into the steep cliffs that envelope them. Their builders – an ancient Native American peoples known as the Ancestral Puebloans – certainly knew how to make the most of their environment.

Yet an unsettling mystery surrounds these canyon dwellings. The Puebloans apparently lived at Mesa Verde for some 700 years and completed these sophisticated buildings. Then in the late 13th century, the people abandoned their magnificent handiwork. Why, though? Well, experts cite a variety of possible factors. These range from overpopulation to climate change and war, though a neat answer is yet to be pinned down.

Traquair House – a few miles from the town of Peebles in the Scottish Borders – dates back to at least 1107. And in its first incarnation, it was a royal hunting lodge. According to the home’s official website, monarchs and their attendants used it as a base from which to hunt bears, wolves and wild boar. It seems the dense woodlands of the nearby Ettrick Forest offered excellent sport at that time.

When the Wars of Independence between Scotland and England erupted in 1286, Traquair was repurposed into a castle. The huge property made a reliable stronghold as bitter battles raged across the borderlands. Things eventually simmered down, though, and by the 15th century the building had taken on the role of a family home. In 1491 James Stuart became the first Laird of Traquair and his descendants still live there to this day.

This rather austere stone-built dwelling, complete with duel chimneys and mullioned windows, has an undeniably stark beauty. Named after the English Puritan who built it, the Henry Whitfield House dates back to the 17th century. The Reverend Whitfield and his family settled in an unassuming patch of Connecticut back in 1639, you see. They named the area Guilford and swiftly set about building themselves this home.

The Whitfields built the property to last, too. The dwelling was constructed from rugged granite blocks and served as a defensive structure as well as a family home. It’s now the oldest stone-built house in New England and is still standing nearly 400 years later! The building has had some assistance over the years, though. The property was extensively restored early in the 20th century, and it now operates as a museum.

Here, we have a curious community of cave dwellings in the village of Meymand – a mountainous settlement in the Kerman Province of Iran. Villagers actually still live there during the bitter winter months, and in the summer they reside on higher land tending to their herds. The exact age of the settlement is disputed, but some claim it’s existed for roughly 12,000 years. That takes it right back to the Stone Age!

These curious dwellings are hewn from bare rock, which sounds like a tricky task at the best of times. But legend has it that the original builders constructed them while intoxicated! Some assert that the name Meymand – which pre-dates the abstemious Islamic era – derives from “may” meaning wine and “mand” which translates as drunk. In any case, UNESCO has recognized these unique homes with World Heritage Site status.

You’ll find this historic home at 51 Rue de Montmorency – about a 20-minute walk from Notre Dame in Paris. And if you look closely at the exterior of the house, you might notice that it’s adorned with a row of mysterious symbols. That’s entirely appropriate since its builder, Nicolas Flamel, was a renowned alchemist. Alchemy was the mysterious medieval dark art that claimed base metal could be converted to gold.

Since alchemy smacks of something close to wizardry, it comes as no surprise that there’s a Harry Potter connection. In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Flamel’s name is used as the title of chapter 13. If you want to know more you’ll need to read the book! In the meantime, if you happen to be in Paris you can dine at Flamel’s former home since it’s now a restaurant.

Set in the mountainous north of Iran, the extraordinary village of Kandovan dates back some eight centuries. Yes, the oldest of these curious caves were carved into the bare rock over 700 years ago! And there’s a good reason why Kandovan’s rock faces appear as if they’re almost melting. The formations that the homes are hewn from are said to be the result of a volcanic eruption several thousand years ago.

Troglodyte is the correct word for a cave dweller, but the history of the Kandovans is something of a mystery. According to the Tehran Times, the original villagers may have been refugees fleeing the invading Mongol hordes in the Middle Ages. Today, the homes extend for between two and four stories with lower floors often reserved for livestock.

This ancient Scottish settlement was first inhabited some 4,700 years ago. But no, it wasn’t built by the Flintstones! The property was actually constructed by the first settlers of Scotland’s Shetland Islands. And as you can see, they used the dry stone method – stacking stones without adding mortar. Typical of the Iron Age, wheelhouses of this ilk can be found in various sites across northern Scotland.

Mainland, the largest island of the Shetlands, hosts three other such circular homes at the celebrated Jarlshof site. This particular settlement was occupied right up until the 17th century before it was deserted, left to disappear into the earth. Thankfully, though, a severe storm in the late-19th century uncovered the properties once again. That means you can go and bask in their beauty if you ever find yourself in the Shetland Islands.

The house at 41 Cloth Fair in east London’s Farringdon district is a building with a truly astounding history. For starters, it was the only residence to survive the flames of the 1666 Great Fire of London. It also stood strong through the Blitz of WWII, even though German bombers destroyed countless nearby properties. So, who constructed this seriously sturdy dwelling?

Well, the resilient residence was built by one Henry Rich. But his story isn’t quite as inspiring as that of his home. The poor man came to a sticky end in 1649, you see, when he was beheaded after picking the wrong side in England’s Civil War. His house most definitely outlived him, then. And though there were plans to demolish it in 1929, it luckily escaped the developers’ bulldozer. That seems to have been a wise decision, too, since a 2017 estimate valued the four-bedroom dwelling at more than $7.5 million.

Conquistador Francisco Pizarro conquered Peru for the Spanish crown in the years running up to 1535. He founded a new city there – Lima, which is now the nation’s capital – and gave a parcel of land to his trusted lieutenant, Captain Jerónimo de Aliaga y Ramírez. The latter built this dazzling house there – next to the Government Palace of the time – and his descendants live in it to this day.

According to Time magazine, it’s the oldest house in all of the Americas... though countless others would dispute that claim! Nevertheless, it’s a beauty to behold. The interior of the home features splendid decorations and works of art amassed by 18 generations of the Aliaga family. So, you’re ever in Lima, take a tour of this magnificent house and savor its enduring opulence.

Margate is a seaside town on the southeast English coast in the county of Kent. It’s got everything you’d expect from a small British beach resort – from ice cream parlors to seafood stores. But just a short stroll from the coast, on a typical residential street, sits something quite out of the ordinary: an impeccably preserved 500-year-old Tudor house.

Margate’s Tudor House started life as a farmer’s home, and it’s had some curious occupants over the years. According to the website Visit Thanet, these have included Flemish weavers, master mariners and shoemakers – or cordwainers as they used to be called. It was almost lost to demolition in the 1930s but an eagle-eyed local spotted the characteristic Tudor beams. The town’s mayor, Claude Hosking, then footed the bill for a complete restoration in the 1950s. What a lucky escape!

Set in a broad, cobbled plaza and surrounded by other historic buildings, the Bummerlhaus is a delightfully charming residence. And parts of it date back to the 13th century! The building is set in the Austrian city of Steyr an der Enns, which lies at the confluence of two rivers: the Enns and the Steyr, of course. The city’s history goes back to the 10th century and in medieval times it was a center for the iron industry.

According to the website Route You, the Bummerlhaus was first mentioned in documents in about 1450. As well as being fantastically old, it’s also a prime example of late Gothic architecture. In fact, the property is said to be one of the finest of its style and era anywhere in Austria. You can thank its façade for that accolade, given its glorious stone carvings and blind arches.

This house in the Russian city of Vyborg might look quaint, but it’s more than just a quirky old property. Its walls are tremendously thick, you see, suggesting that it could have once been a defensive fortress as well as an everyday family home. And when it was constructed in the late-16th century, Vyborg – in the far west of Russia near the modern border with Finland – was actually occupied by Swedes.

The house has been much altered over the centuries, of course, but it’s still thought to be the oldest residence anywhere in Russia. And according to the English Russia website, it’s still occupied to this day. In fact, it’s thought that not one, but two families call this dwelling home! The historic house was renovated in the 1960s so the interior is no doubt less dilapidated than the exterior.

These homes in the Italian city of Matera are dug into cliff-side caves, and there has been human occupation here for a staggering 9,000 years. Yes, evidence suggests that people have occupied these dwellings since as far back as the Paleolithic era! And since then, humans have continued to excavate deeper and deeper into the rock – expanding their homes.

Charming though they appear, these homes and their residents haven’t always had an easy time of things. Back in the 1950s the dwellings were classified as slums, with many of the occupants living in dire poverty. Thankfully, things have been transformed in recent years. Some of the homes are even well-appointed hotel rooms these days. And as urban planner Antonio Nicoletti pointed out to Smithsonian magazine in 2014, “Where else can you now sleep in a room that was first occupied 9,000 years ago?”