California Plank Houses Used Giant Trees
California plank houses use the locally available trees for their plank houses. But these aren’t just trees, these are the massive redwood trees, the trees in northwestern California famous for being large enough to drive through. Taking one of these trees down took a great deal of planning. They burned the base of the tree, then used wedges to split the charred part.
The tree produced long, solid boards to build the frame, gabled roof, and plank siding of the plank house. Builders dug a pit into the earth, then framed the house within the pit. The windowless house appear half buried. But the circular entrance was, above all, one of the most unique visual of the house features. No other region uses circular entrances like these.
