Board Houses: Sierra Leone's Unique Architecture
Untold story of Freetown’s trademark residential wooden houses
Board house with elevated foundation (2018) Original Source: Isatu Smith, West Africa Heritage Consultants Ltd
The Beginning of Great Heritage
Freetown, formerly ‘Province of Freedom’, was founded as a home of freed slaves by Black Loyalists from Nova Scotia in 1792. These repatriated freed slaves and early settlers in Freetown used forest timber to construct board houses.They are commonly called Old Bode Ose in Krio.
House for Everybody
Freetown became a multi-cultural haven of liberated Africans, dotted both by formerly enslaved and recaptives. Inhabitants looked to board houses as their main source of shelter, the construction of which they had learnt under their former slave masters abroad.
The Early Birds
These board houses were constructed using timber from virgin forests and locally quarried stones as foundations. They became the vernacular dwelling houses in the Freetown colony.
Mystery of the Name!
The old board houses in Freetown are relics of the original versions broughtby the early settlers. Present-day Sierra Leoneans call them "old bode ose", a Krio phrase for these wooden houses, carrying with them the rich history behind the foundation of Freetown.
Two story board house with elevated foundation (2018) Original Source: Isatu Smith, West Africa Heritage Consultants Ltd
A Living Symbol of the Nation's History
These board houses are much more than the country's mirrors of its past, its peoples and history of the Slave Trade.
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