Finnish Farmstead Organization in Old And New World Settings

Abstract

During recent years an increasing amount of scholarly attention has focused upon the assessment of ordinary people, conventional places and common events. Most studies of material culture, however, have been directed toward vernacular and ethnic architecture and artifacts, with relatively little attention given to the physical organization of rural enclaves or entire farmstead units. Undoubtedly studies of farmsteads have been limited in number because of the substantial amount of field survey work that is required, and what is perceived as a lack of primary research materials, both archival and structural. Despite these apparent problems, an assessment of extant rural building groupings and remnants in a Wisconsin Finnish-American community and a perusal of various reference materials revealed sufficient evidence to undertake an in-depth study of farmsteads and their spatial organization. By comparing farmsteads developed by Finnish immigrants in Wisconsin with prototypical examples from Finland, it was possible to determine both differences and similarities in functional and morphological characteristics on both sides of the Atlantic.