The existence of joglo houses owned by Javanese farmers: A case of Pondokrejo village, Rembang

Abstract

The joglo building has symbolic meanings and a high cost to build, so it is only applied to several public buildings (pendopo, office, museum, etc.) owned by the rich people, that its existence as a house is difficult to survive. The number of joglo houses in various places does not increase (even decrease), but it does not occur in the Kampung Joglo, Pondokrejo, Rembang. There is an anomaly where the number of joglo houses can survive and even increase from year to year. With this potential, this study examined the existing joglo houses owned by Javanese farmers. The research methodology was carried out in a qualitative descriptive manner through the measurement of field data, which was then analysed and described. The results showed that the shapes of roofs were Joglo, Wedhok/Bekuk Lulang (Kampung), Paris (Limasan) and Sinom. In this case, Joglo houses owned by farm families were about 199 homes or 47%. The joglo roof is the essential shape that has always been preserved by the residents. They aspire to build the joglo if they are financially capable. The results of this study also revealed that the joglo house did not only belong to the royal families or officers who lived in urban areas (negarigung) and coastal trader regions (pesisir) but actually, there were many farmers in rural areas (mancanegari) who owned joglo houses too. This study acknowledged the importance of the joglo houses in Pondokrejo that could be preserved eventually.