The medieval farm consisted of many buildings. The bigger and richer the farm, the more buildings. In some regions, the buildings were joined so that the farm formed a closed unit. In other places, the buildings were spread out in the yard. The construction of the buildings and the outlay of the farm varies from country to country.
Every building had a special purpose. There was a dwelling-house, where the people of the farm took their meals, slept and spent time together. If the farm was prosperous, the dwelling- house could be lavishly fitted out. There were also stables, a barn and a cow-shed for the animals. Other buildings were barns for hay and corn, a kitchen for cooking, a brewing-house where beer was made, a pantry for storing meat, sausages and other food, a bath-house for washing and perhaps a smithy. Different farms had a need for different kinds of buildings. The names of the buildings also varied in different parts of the Nordic countries.
The most common building material was wood. In Denmark and southernmost Sweden, houses were half-timbered. Half-timbered houses were also found in the towns, where building-materials were hard to come by. In central and northern Sweden as well as in Norway, where the supply of timber was good, houses were built of logs which were joined together at the corners.
The roofs were covered with reed, straw, peat, plank or shingle. The only opening was a hole in the roof to let the smoke out. The houses had small windows with sliding shutters.