The traditional horizontal stilt houses, which are unique to the Ede ethnic minority in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, are dropping notably in number and falling in traditional architectural values, and even risk being wiped out.

According to Dak Lak Province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ede community’s iconic horizontal stilt houses are all made from materials available in the region’s jungles.

The houses, which are traditionally some hundred meters in width, boast wooden frames, thatched roofs, and two protruding pointed gable ends.

The floors and walls are all made from bamboos, and the frames have dozens of poles.

The houses all have their roofs which point to the north-southern direction.

The front gateway has two staircases, with stairs made from quality wood.

One end of the staircases typically boasts exquisite carvings of crescents, elephant tusks and women’s breasts which are symbolic of females’ vitality and power in the matriarchal community.

The main chamber of the houses is where familial and communal activities and rituals are held and guests are received.

Next to the main chamber are smaller ones where seven to nine couples live in.

According to the provincial culture’s department’s statistics, the number of the horizontal stilt houses across the province has dropped to a mere 2,000 ones, down by over 600 compared to 2012.

The houses have vanished from several of the ethnic minority’s villages in such districts as Cu Kuin, Krong Pak, Krong Buk and Ea Kar.

Since 1980, the province has implemented the policy of splitting households, as ethnic extended families typically live together in a large house.

It was then that the horizontal stilt houses began to disappear.

Since the 1990s, the disappearance has gathered momentum due to the pervasive influence from the contemporary culture of the Kinh people- who make up the majority of the country’s population- and urbanization.

As wood supplies have been shrinking considerably and getting much more expensive, many more Ede ethnic people now choose to build their new houses in the Kinh people’s style.

Worse, a number of nouveau riche ethnic people even tear down their horizontal stilt houses to build multi-story modern houses.

Even the remaining stilt houses have seen massive changes, including considerably shortened width, tiled roofs and different layouts and interior décors.

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