ABSTRACT
I have now looked at houses between 1400 and 1700. I have tried to relate the forms of houses observed to stability and innovation within the competence governing the craft tradition. I related this competence in turn to the structure and changing form of the household, the social unit within the house. The closure of the open hall and emergence of the lobby-entry plan were understood in terms of changes in cultural values and meanings, values and meanings expressed and played out at an everyday level within and around the house. This long-term process was called “closure”.
