HISTORICAL ODUNPAZARI HOUSES

The basis of Eskişehir's urban development is placed in the Odunpazarı district, which was founded on the South hill of the city. Previously, the villagers sold the wood they brought from the mountains in the square of the present Sebahattin
Günday Park. Therefore this area is called “Odunpazarı” which means “Wood Bazaar”. The district is one of the rare places that has survived to the present with its Ottoman civil architectural structures and wooden houses located at the protected
area. The unique historical texture of Odunpazarı has created a bridge between the past and the present. Many civil and religious architecture coexists in the region. Historical Odunpazarı Houses are located according to the location of the street and the land in accordance with the topographical structure of the region.

The houses reflect the traditional texture of the Anatolian-Turkish city. Along the narrow streets, the adjacent 1,2 and 3 story houses mostly open to the street. While the lower floors of the houses were used as pantry, storage, woodshed, warehouse,
the facades were either left plain or enliven with small windows. When we look at the upper floors, the facades are integrated with the projections in order to provide connection with the street and these places were used as living spaces. Projections
were shaped according to the structure of the street and the shape of the land, to create a large living space on the upper floors, to emphasize the main room on the exterior, and to enable the house to communicate with the street and the outside
world.

We can categorize the entrance of the houses as Entrance Doors and Garden Gates. Single-wing and double-wing wooden doors were decorated with the inlay technique and geometric motifs. The purpose of building double-wing door is usually for the carriage entering. Generally, it is seen that owner of the houses with double-wing doors had high income levels.

Windows in Odunpazari houses are usually made as guillotine window or double-wing. The square and rectangular windows occupy a large space on the upper floors, on the projections and in-between the projections. Specifically, the most valuable
parts of the house, which we call empty room or mansion room, are located on the facade. For this reason, windows are important.