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Mukjae Gotaek House - 묵재고택 (默齋古宅) (unknown age)

This house is unusual in that the sarangchae (men's quarters) and anchae (inner quarters) are physically connected in an H-shaped configuration. This suggests that the house was built during the middle Joseon era or earlier, before the differentiation of wings of houses by gender reached its full bloom.

Contradictory information on the origins of this house was provided by the owners of the Bian-gong Gutaek house immediately to the west. According to one of the residents (who has lived at Bian-gong Gutaek since the Japanese colonial period), the Mukjae Gotaek house was originally the sarangchae of their house. Until the 1930s, she asserts, Bian-gong Gutaek was a much larger house, measuring 7 by 5 kan. In order to provide one of the sons with a house of his own, it was divided into these two houses. She further asserts that the sadangchae (ancestral shrine) behind Mukjae Gotaek was originally part of the Bian-gong Gutaek house.

It is quite possible that both stories are correct. Bian-gong Gutaek and Mukjae Gotaek may have originally been constructed as separate houses, then became parts of a much larger estate (a single household) for a number of years, before reverting again to separate houses.

(Classified Andong Folk Cultural Property #85).

Plan view

Click on any of the red arrows to view that location.
Sketch plan by the author, Timothy M. Ciccone, not to scale.

Location

According to GPS readings collected by the author, the site is at 36 34.83582' N, 128 32.73560' E (WGS 84 map datum). Address: 경북 안동시 풍산읍 소산리 221.