Wooden house from Kwau village of Arfak mountains

The wooden houses that you see in this post were photographed when I was guiding tourists in Manokwari regency. This is a typical wooden house in Arfak mountains. The walls are made of tree barks that are strengthened by wooden sticks to create rigid structure. The indigenous people who live in the house make fire near their feet to keep them warm at night. This house was located around 1400 meters above sea level in the middle of the tropical rainforest of West Papua. This house is an eco-friendly home construction because it only uses organic materials for building it. Although the houses look very basic in their design and construction, they are more resistant to earthquake than the ordinary concrete houses that I usually find in Manokwari city.

The floor of the house is made of bamboo panels that are supported by small wooden pillars and beams below it. The space below the house is usually allocated for pigs. Hens and cocks fly to the nearby trees to sleep there at nights. In the past, the roofs of the wooden houses in Arfak mountains were made of palm leaves that had been arranged and woven together to protect the interior of the houses from wet weather. Today, the villagers prefer to use corrugated metal roofs that are more resistant to wet weather and will only need replacement after 10 or 15 years of use.

Under the free housing program from the social department, local government of Manokwari regency construct semi-permanent wooden houses whose design and types are not the same as the original design of the houses which the indigenous people of Arfak mountains usually build. Most the houses are not built above the ground. As a result, they are not suitable for the climate in the slopes of Arfak mountains that is very cold at night. The Arfak tribes still say that their traditional timber houses are warmer than the ones constructed by the contractors of the government's project. If you are interested in traveling to Arfak mountains in West Papua province of Indonesia, and need a guide to accompany you, please, contact me Charles Roring via my email: charlesroring@gmail.com
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Wooden house design of Losmen Amberimasi
Wooden house from tropical village of Senopi