A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

s, normally smaller craft for sports or

leisure Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leis ...

use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

. Often the boats stored are rowing boats. Other boats such as punts or small motor boats may also be stored. A boathouse may be the headquarters of a boat club or rowing club and used to store racing shells, in which case it may be known as a shell house. Boat houses may also include a restaurant,

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

,A Description of a boat house
or other leisure facilities, perhaps for members of an associated club. They are also sometimes modified to include living quarters for people, or the whole structure may be used as temporary or permanent housing. In Scandinavia, the boathouse is known as a ''naust'', a word deriving from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

''naverstað''. These were typically built with stone walls and timber roofs and would be either open to the sea or provided with sturdy doors. The floors would be a simple continuation of the beach sand or rock, or they might be dug down to permit a boat to sail into the boathouse. The boathouse is also seen on riversides or lake sides.

Gallery

File:EdinburghBoathouse.jpg, Edinburgh Canal Society boathouse on the Union Canal File:Henley on Thames-Along the Thames.JPG, Boathouses on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

File:Boathouse_Row-wide.JPG, Boathouse Row on the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, United States File:Israeli_boathouse.jpg, Racing shells stored inside a boathouse in Israel File:Alexandra Gardens Boathouses.jpg, Boathouses on the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, ( Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower ...

in Alexandra Gardens,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, Australia File:Naust i øygarden.jpg, Boathouses in western Norway File:09-07-27 Naust Gloppen.jpg, Log boathouse by Nordfjord File:Steinnaust.jpg, Stone-walled Norwegian boathouse set into a hillside File:Closeup of boathouse 2.jpg, Closeup of the second boathouse at Topridge File:Knollwood Club on Lower Saranac Lake.jpg, Knollwood Club boathouse on Lower Saranac Lake in the United States File:Boathouse at Katja.jpg, Stone boathouse at Camp Katia on Upper St. Regis Lake, United States File:Boathouse at Camp Wild Air, Upper St Regis Lake, NY.jpg, Boathouse at Camp Wild Air, Upper St. Regis Lake, United States File:Durham School Boat Club - boat house summer.jpg, Durham School Boat Club's boathouse seen from Prebends Bridge, United Kingdom File:Jona (SG) - Busskirch St Martin IMG 2222.JPG, Boathouse on upper Lake Zürich in Jona- Busskirch, Switzerland File:Zürichsee - Erlenbach IMG 2102.JPG, Boathouse on Lake Zürich in Zollikon, Switzerland File:Emmanuel College boathouse - geograph.org.uk - 991188.jpg, Emmanuel College boathouse on the Cam at Cambridge, United Kingdom File:Reed Point Marina Boathouse 2.jpg, Large boathouses in Reed Point Marina, Canada File:Reed Point Marina Boathouse 3.jpg, Another style of boathouse in Reed Point Marina, Canada File:2bootshausKRG.jpg, The floating boathouse of the Kölner Rudergesellschaft 1891 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

File:Central Park - Kerbs Memorial Boathouse (48377218702).jpg, The Kerbs Memorial Boathouse on

Conservatory Water Conservatory Water is a pond located in a natural hollow within Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. It is located west of Fifth Avenue, centered opposite East 74th Street. The pond is surrounded by several landscaped hills, including Pil ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

in Manhattan, New York City File:Art work of Toledo, Ohio - DPLA - 0a107364e8d8eb430ebc183d28c46463 (page 33) (cropped).jpg, Riverside Pavilion and Boathouse in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and accordin ...

, 1895

References

3. Drower, George, `A boat's abode: boathouses of the River Thames', ''House & Garden'', March 1990, pp54-58 {{Authority control Boathouses

Gallery

See also

References