Jamestown

12. Housing

Williamsburg, VA

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The settlers used a traditional European construction method called 'wattle and daub' to build homes that were very similar to those they had left behind in England. They first erected a timber frame, and then wove branches and saplings between the timbers as the wall material. This wall material was the wattle. After that, they mixed sand, clay, straw and water together to form the 'daub,' which was applied to the wattle. The roofs were either covered with planks or thatched with reeds. Groups of six to eight men lived in the individual houses. The furnishings and contents varied depending on the social class of the owners.