Houses on Stilts

Apparently, ~21% of you don’t want to live in a floating house. Since there is no way of asking Canute how he feels about the issue, it is only fair to look into other accommodation possibilities for areas at risk of flooding.

Option 2: Houses on stilts

Already I’m imagining the house from Baba Yaga, and I’m not going to lie that story really scared me, but hopefully the real thing isn't so scary. Although actually a house which walks on chicken legs away from flooding might not actually be such a bad idea...

Just relocating to avoid that pesky thermal expansion again (Pixgood)

 

Houses on stilts are more common than you think - they have actually been built for thousands of years by communities all over the world, so they definitely work. They can be built over dry land or water - perhaps you are more ok with being surrounded by water if it is just  temporary? And there are loads of advantages:

• The obvious one is flood protection, houses can be built high enough to accommodate for high tides and storm surges - now you just need to make sure you didn't park the car under the house!
• Nice bit of shade under the houses.
• Unlike the floating houses I looked at last month, houses on stilts are always level so it doesn't matter where you put your furniture, and they can't sink.
• They can be built in areas where it is otherwise not possible to live such as bogs, and lakes.
• It's even possible to transform a normal house into a house on stilts (DailyMail).
• Doesn't really seem to be any limitations in design- in Galvaston, Texas, they are basically building mansions, such as this one here:





Perhaps showing your stilts is a bit like showing your ankles in Victorian England? This house has disguised it's stilts with 'walls' (CoastalLiving).

 

Personally, I think houses on stilts sounds like a great idea, I like that they are still very recognisable as houses, and that sometimes it might be possible to go fishing on your doorstep (although if this is what you want from life I think that floating houses are really more up your street!).

 

 

I can see one obvious disadvantage to these houses - they are not adjustable. If sea level rises more than expected or if there was a particularly high tide combined with a particularly strong storm surge, your house might not be dry anymore. As sea level rises you may no longer be based over dry land. You could end up with a very wet garden, admittedly Ariel had an amazing underwater garden, but there may come a point when seaweed and fish just isn't the same at petunias and sparrows.
 

 

So what do you think?

Would you live in a house on stilts?

 

I'd be interested to know your reasons, so if you've got time do comment and let me know why you chose what you chose.

If it's a yes - you can get onto choosing your house here, if it's a no, don't worry,  I'm sure I can come up with another possibility over the next few weeks.