Building the Hogan

I thought it might be a good idea to stop here and explain why we chose the title of this blog.  What exactly is a “Hogan” and why are we building one?

First, a bit of background.  The term “Hogan” comes from the Native American Navajo word “hooghan” and it was their traditional dwelling place.  When you research the Navajo Hogan, you’ll find that the structure was much more than just a house.  It was also a sacred ceremonial place.  The earliest Hogans were circular in shape, came in a variety of sizes and were built of logs, sticks and mud.  The door was always placed on the east side of the house to welcome the rising sun, for good health and fortune. 

The Hogan is not the only round house we find in early America.  The circular shape was a constant theme in Native American architecture.  The most known structure is of course the Tipi, the portable dwelling of the Crow and other nomadic plains tribes.  The Tipi (sometimes spelled “tee-pee”) was possibly the first truly mobile home and has endured until today, finding it’s way into the green housing movement as the Yurt. 

Among the Pueblo’s of the southwestern US, the Kiva was also a place of ceremony.  A Kiva was often built mostly underground and was used as a ceremonial place for weaving, tribal decisions and other important gatherings.

The circular shape was used by the ancient tribes because it was believed that the circle represents the dwelling place created by the Great Spirit for all people.  The Native American tradition of the round house was not only practical from a structural standpoint, it was an integral part of their belief systems.  It is said that the attachment to circular housing was so strong that when some of the elders, accustomed to living in round houses, were required to live in rectangular homes they became sullen and depressed.

But getting back to the Hogan…  Over time the shape of the Hogan changed to an octagonal or hexagonal shape, some say due to the abundance of pre-made railroad ties that came with the westward expansion of the railroads.  In the modern era, the round shapes have been almost entirely replaced by the European tradition of rectangular houses.  The rectangular shapes replaced the round houses because of the appearance of dimensional lumber, among other factors.

While researching the sort of house that we wanted to build we learned a lot about the kinds of materials we wanted to use and how the materials went hand-in-hand with the shape of the structure.  We learned that when you’re building with earth, for example, that a round shape is especially strong.  This coincided well with the general feeling we had about the kind of open space we wanted to create and was reinforced by some our experiences in round architecture, such as that of the Wheelwright Museum, built as an eight-sided Hogan, complete with a reciprocated roof.

Cecilia and I found ourselves drawn to the idea of a circular house.  We came to New Mexico pulled by the inspiring landscape, the harmony of its adobe architecture, and the spirit of the people who inhabit it.  While we don’t have an ancestral connection to the Native American cultural history of this region we are caught by the wisdom of the voices that call for a return to the simpler life.  

We call our house a Hogan because of its design, an eight-sided single story house with a reciprocated roof.  We intend to make it primarily of earth and stone.  From a material standpoint it’s as basic as you can get.  These are the nuts and bolts reasons. 

We also call our house a Hogan for what it represents: to honor the traditions of the people who inhabited this region many years ago, to coexist in this landscape in a harmonic way, to satisfy the desire we have to live in such a marvelous space and to best utilize the materials available to us - earth and stone.

Here’s a brief Youtube video for you to enjoy.