house types
Shop-house
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Buildings on the old market street are oriented such that the shops line up to face the road on the ground floor to cater to the public. The living spaces are above and attached at the back, creating small courtyard spaces in between with many houses also having a separate cowshed. The backs of these houses face the Pangna Khud river. Owing to the sloping terrain, several small staircases lead from the market street to the parts of the houses and courtyards behind. Characterised by their distinctive facade, the houses are primarily built of deodar wood, and locally procured slate stone. Like many families in the village of Pangna, the people living in this stretch also practise small-scale farming.
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Chowkinuma makaan
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The defining characteristic of the chowkinuma type is its courtyard. The house revolves around a central aangan or courtyard about which numerous activities transpire. The entrance of the house, locally known as beh, leads to the praud, which is a small room that further opens up to the verandah and the aangan. The verandah connects to different rooms in the house such as the oobra. The steps (podi) lead to the first floor (poda), to the upper rooms (kamra) which are connected to the balcony (banglu) and a fireplace. The houses belonging to chowkinuma type were built by merchants, and would be occupied by large joint families.
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Half-chowkinuma makaan
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Constructed in the form of a U, the half-chowkinuma house has an open courtyard. The verandah overlooks the courtyard while enveloping the interior rooms. The primary residence is shaped like an L, and typically has a section segregated from the rest of the house for other uses. In its typical configuration, the residence would have six rooms, with three on each floor. In some houses, the separated area is used as a cowshed. In the Teli house, old oil pressers were kept here. This house type also models two types of kitchens, one for the summer and the other for winter.
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Baramda house
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The Baramda house or Verandah house is a house type that is characterised by its large verandah that typically runs along its length. It is longitudinal in nature and positioned along the street. All the rooms in the Baramda house are accessed through a singular verandah, which may be open or partially closed off. The house would typically have four rooms, with two rooms occupying the middle, and the kitchen and bath flanking them on either side. The windows of this house open up toward the verandah on one side, and the structure either incorporates wooden cladding or an open balcony on the first floor. Some balconies may have wooden windows which can help enclose the space in the winters. The first floor would have the same configuration as below, however with storage spaces flanking either side.