Custom Homes West Sumatra, Indonesia

Custom homes West Sumatra especially of ethnic Minangkabau called Tower House (Rumah Gadang). Tower House is usually built on a plot of land belonging to the family of the tribe or the parent generation to the decline. Not far from the house just is usually also built a mosque that serves as the place of worship and residence of the adult male's are unmarried.

House just a rectangular and is divides into two parts, front and back, generally made of wood, and at first glance looks like a house on stilts with the roof shaped characterized, stands out like a buffalo horn, people call it 'Gonjong' and formerly the roof is made of palm fibers before switching with a tin roof.

"Bagonjong' house is inspired by local legend, which tells of the arrival of their ancestors by boat from the sea. Another distinctive feature of this custom home is not wearing metal spikes but using wooden pegs yet strong enough as a binder.

While ethnic Mentawai also has a custom house shaped houses a large stage with a floor height of the ground reaches a meter called 'uma'. Uma is inhabited simultaneously by five to ten families. In General construction 'uma' was built without using nails, but with a wooden stake and a cross connection system.

West Sumatra is one of the province in Indonesia which is located on the Island of Sumatra and Padang as its capital. Occupies the province along the west coast of Sumatra the center and a number of Island off the coast such as the Mentawai Islands. From North to South, bordered by the four province namely North Sumatra, Riau, Jambi and Bengkulu.

West Sumatra inhabited by mostly ethnic Minangkabau entirely Muslim, while the rest are not all embraced Islam. The province is composed of 12 districts and 7 cities with administrative divisions in all districts (except districts Mentawai Islands) named as Nagari (in 1979 replaced by the village and returned in 2001 with the original name)