What is a Joglo?

The roof and the four posts

Everything in a Joglo follows from the roof. It is carried by four main posts, called soko guru in Javanese, which stand at the centre of the building and take the whole weight. Above them, layers of carved timber beams — the tumpang sari — step inward toward the peak, like an inverted pyramid of wood, and the outer edges flare out.

Because the roof rests on those four posts, the walls carry no load, which is why a Joglo can be open on its sides and still stand.

Status in timber

Joglo houses are traditionally associated with the Javanese aristocracy, and the form flourished under the Mataram sultanate between the 16th and 18th centuries. In Javanese culture the roof of a house reflected the standing of its owner; the more layers in the tumpang sari, the higher the status it signalled.

Why teak

Teak is the traditional timber: dense, durable and resistant to rot and insects, which is why a Joglo can last a century or more. Old teak also darkens and smooths with age, and the carving on a good Joglo is deep enough to read as shadow.

Joglo and bale

A Balinese bale is an open pavilion, usually thatched or tiled, raised on a base and used for sitting, eating, meeting and ceremony. A Joglo is a different building from a different island, with a different roof and a different structure. Bali has both: bales are everywhere, and Joglos arrived later.

Why there are Javanese houses in Bali

Over recent decades many old Joglos have been taken down plank by plank and rebuilt elsewhere, including in Bali’s villas, restaurants and hotels. The carpentry and the aged teak are valued, and a Joglo is designed to be assembled from numbered parts, so it travels better than most buildings.

Staying in one

Villa Aniri in Seminyak keeps a teak Joglo as one of its four bedrooms, with a thatched bale and an open living pavilion in the same garden. See stay in the Joglo for the house, or the gallery for the carpentry up close.