October 7, 2025
Note from Editor Walt Brickman: for today’s edition of The Bricklyn Eagle we’ve invited the Chief Historian of the Realm of Bricklyn, Winifred Tiler Jackson, to share her understanding of one of the most important buildings in Bricklyn, the Longhouse.
Outland readers who travel to Bricklyn should understand that they cannot visit the Longhouse, as it is located in that portion of the Realm that lies outside the Great Wall of Bricklyn, an area that remains off-limits to Outland visitors. Nevertheless, we hope Jackson’s insights, and the accompanying images, will give you at least some understanding of this special structure.
I also want to note that this article is dedicated to the memory of the late Elaine Cogan, long-time columnist for the Planning Commissioners Journal.
The Bricklyn Longhouse: Its Design, Uses, and Historical Significance
by Winifred Tiler Jackson
Chief Historian of the Realm of Bricklyn and teacher of history at Bricklyn Hight School
In an earlier article published in The Bricklyn Eagle, “Understanding the Great Wall of Bricklyn,”I touched on some of the history of the LEGO peoples who lived where the city of Bricklyn now stands.
Quite a few of today’s Bricklynites are descendants of those late 18th century pioneers, who were called the “Little Vermonters” — a name long since supplanted by the appellation “Bricklynites” (just as the location first known as Little Vermont was, in 1812, renamed Bricklyn).
➤ As is the practice of most contemporary Bricklyn historians, we shall refer to the “Little Vermonters” here as “early Bricklynites,” as these people were never legally considered Vermonters either during the days of the Vermont Republic or after Vermont was admitted as a State in 1791 — this despite the heroic service of many of them with Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys during the Revolutionary War.
The original Bricklyn Longhouse was built in 1772 and — quite unfortunately — demolished in 1897.
The only sketch of this longhouse known to remain (and held in the Bricklyn archives) is shown on the right.
This longhouse bore a resemblance in shape to Iroquois / Haudenosaunee📍 longhouses with their curved, barrel shaped roofs. The current Bricklyn Longhouse, built in 1987, has a style which departs from this, in part as it includes a second floor.
📍 What many still refer to as the Iroquois Confederacy is more often now called by its native name, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, which will be used in this article. The Haudenosaunee call themselves, “The People of the Longhouse” or “the people who are building the longhouse.”
As Bricklyn grew in size, it outgrew its longhouse. In 1895, the Annual Town Meeting was shifted to the auditorium of the newly built Bricklyn High School.
As can be seen from this photo, the auditorium is a rather drab space without much character, and with no historical connection to longhouses.
It was not until some ninety years later — following a surge in LEGO migrants from Denmark — that plans were set in motion to build a new public meeting space. More on the resulting “1987 Bricklyn Longhouse” shortly.
➤ So readers are clear, from this point on when I refer to the “Bricklyn Longhouse,” I will be referring to the Longhouse, built in 1987, and in use today.
Why Bricklyn Uses a Longhouse for Public Meetings
One of the cherished traditions followed by early Bricklynites was the use of a longhouse for many of their public meetings. This practice was revived with the opening of Bricklyn’s new longhouse in 1987. Today’s Bricklyn Longhouse has served as a good fit for public meetings, as well as for other functions.
Allow me to make three observations:
First, the Bricklyn Longhouse harkens back to longhouses found in rural Denmark, the place from which many early Bricklynites emigrated. While research indicates that these Viking-era longhouses were typically used for housing, they often included livestock stables; a workspace for weaving; and storage of tools and foodstuffs. Some also served as a social and meeting place for feasts and community decisions. These longhouses remained an important historical and cultural memory for quite a few Bricklynites.
Above: the warm glow of the Bricklyn Longhouse on a Winter night invites people to attend the public meeting inside. More about the importance of the Longhouse’s scenic location later in this article.
Second, the Bricklyn Longhouse honors the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The Confederacy was well known to early Bricklynites, especially merchants, as it covered a wide swath of central New York State into southern Ontario. Made up of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations, the Confederacy (as noted on the Haudenosaunee website) remains to this day “one of the first and longest lasting participatory democracies in the world.”
The design of the Bricklyn Longhouse draws on several features of meetings of the Haudenosaunee Grand Council. More on this in the next section of this article.
Third, the annual meetings of the Realm of Bricklyn held in the Bricklyn Longhouse largely follow the format of New England town meetings.
New England town meetings typically occur annually, with a moderator and members of the Board of Selectmen (the governing body) present, along with the entire community. Decision-making at town meetings is placed in the hands of town residents 18 years and older. The community, at the town meeting, elects both the meeting’s moderator and the members of the town Board of Selectmen; adopts the annual budget; and can act on a range of other matters. These town meeting practices have also been followed in Bricklyn.
The Uses & Design of the Bricklyn Longhouse
The Bricklyn Longhouse, planned by the then young Bricklyn architect Moshi Saftbrick, opened in 1987.
While the Longhouse is the site of the annual Meeting of the Realm, it also hosts quarterly meetings of the Bricklyn Federal Council, as well as monthly meetings of the Bricklyn Planning Commission.
But quite importantly, the Longhouse is also used almost daily for a wide assortment of events, making it a true community hub. These range from hosting meetings of civic organizations such as the Legotary, to Friday night hoedowns, to drawing classes, and much more. In this way, the Bricklyn Longhouse has become a vital part of community life.
➤ Editor’s note: Hoedowns are one more reflection of the popularity of dancing in Bricklyn life. See also “Dancing in the Street — Every Tuesday Night.”
A highly appreciated section of the Bricklyn Longhouse is its second floor playroom, often used by children while parents are attending a meeting on the ground floor of the Longhouse.
Another key feature of the Longhouse is the central fire that remains lit during all Federal Council meetings held there.
According to Saftbrick, this design feature has its roots in the central fire at Haudenosaunee Grand Council meetings: “The [Confederacy] meetings were held around the eternal fire of the Confederacy, which the Onondaga nation was tasked with maintaining. … The enduring flame of the Council fire to this day represents the unbroken spirit and resilience of the Haudenosaunee people.” Moshi Saftbrick, On Designing a Contemporary Public Meeting Space for the Realm of Bricklyn (Bricklyn University Press, 1991), 134. See also William Fenton, The Great Law and the Longhouse: A Political History of the Iroquois Confederacy (University of Oklahoma Press, 1998), 102.
➤ As a side note, there is a second eternal light in Bricklyn, the “Ner Tamid” (“eternal light” in Hebrew) found in the main sanctuary of Temple Beth-Shalom in front of the Holy Ark. As Rabbi Rachel B. Weinstein explains, “this light symbolizes God’s eternal presence, and is thus never extinguished.”
“Another meeting room detail that is too often given little thought,” says architect Saftbrick, “is the design and placement of the table council or board members are seated at.” Saftbrick, On Designing, 133. On this point, public involvement expert Elaine Cogan, decried the common practice of board members being seated on a raised dais “high above and yards away from anyone who might want to approach them.” See “Welcoming the Public,” in Planning Commissioners Journal #6 (September/October 1992); Saftbrick, On Designing, 135.
The horseshoe shaped table built for the Bricklyn Longhouse also relates to the Haudenosaunee practice of having chiefs of the nations comprising the Confederacy face each other, sometimes across the fire, instead of being seated in a row. See Fenton, The Great Law, 212. As Saftbrick observed “using a horseshoe shaped table also makes face-to-face conversations much easier to have.” On Designing, 136.
When public meetings are held In the Longhouse, donuts and coffee are also available, not just to those at the table, but to all members of the public.
As Elaine Cogan noted, the provision of light refreshments can boost attendance at public meetings and provide for a more relaxed environment. See “Enticements Needed to Woo the Public,” in Planning Commissioners Journal #63, Summer 2006.
In the Bricklyn Longhouse meeting room photo (scroll back up the page), you can also see that elected officials, when meeting in the Longhouse, don ceremonial Viking-style helmets, loosely modeled after the ancient Veksø helmets unearthed in Denmark. Their use gives another point of connection to the Danish origins of many Bricklynites.
Interestingly, Haudenosaunee chiefs wore deer antlers during Council meetings. “Symbolic antlers of office marked the chiefs … . Chiefs are crowned with antlers, they are dehorned for misconduct.” Fenton, The Great Law, 102.
Also important to the success of the Bricklyn Longhouse is its scenic location in Westside Park, bordering beautiful Lake of the Pines. See photo earlier in this article.
“A building is diminished,” said Longhouse architect Saftbrick,” if it is not located in a compatible environment … the design team received public feedback that many wanted the new structure to be in an area close to nature; a place with a calming spirit.” Saftbrick, On Designing, 33.
In reviewing potential locations, it quickly became apparent that a wooded site in Westside Park by Lake of the Pines would be ideal. What’s more, the site was close to Bricklyn’s bike and pedestrian pathway and to public transit.” Saftbrick, On Designing, 34-36.
Credit: Office of Moshi Saftbrick; with help from GPT-4o AI.
The design of the Bricklyn Longhouse drew inspiration from Haudenosaunee and Danish sources:
“It is important,” Saftbrick wrote, “to honor our past in our design of public meeting spaces, while meeting current and future needs of the community. This does not mean slavishly copying past designs, but instead, designing new public buildings that provide a sense of continuity married to a vision for the future.” Saftbrick, On Designing, 137.
This point is echoed by the authors of A Pattern Language — Towns, Buildings, Construction, who note that: “People cannot maintain their spiritual roots and their connections to the past if the physical world they live in does not also sustain these roots.” Christopher Alexander et al., A Pattern Language. (Oxford University Press, 1997),132.
Wise words for me to close this article on. ✥
We welcome Letters to the Editor. Please email to: bricklynvt@gmail.com
To the Editor: Bravo to Ms. Jackson for her account of longhouses, in particular the 1987 Bricklyn Longhouse. It was fascinating to read how young Moshi Saftbrick came up with the design. I’ve been to many functions at the Longhouse, and it really has a warmth and character rarely found in contemporary buildings. — Alan Freebrick, South Bricklyn, VT
To the Editor: I had Ms. Jackson as my 9th grade history teacher a few years ago. She’s great at explaining things, and got me interested in learning more about the Outland world. I’ve also been to some events at the Longhouse, I especially like the poetry readings they hold there every month. Nice to listen to poems with friends, with the fire blazing away in the front of the main room. — Alice Plater Sorenson, Bricklyn, VT
To the Editor: My Mom said it was OK for me to write to you, and she’s checking what I wrote before I send this to you. I think it’s me in the picture you have of kids playing in the upstairs part of the Longhouse. I like being there with friends. Hope you like the Longhouse LEGO model we were building. It came out just right, and we now have it on display in the Red Brick School. I’m in fourth grad there. — Nellie B. Thompson, Bricklyn Jct., VT.
Reply from the Editor: Thank you so much for your letter Nellie. For readers who might be interested, Nellie is the girl with blonde hair in the photo we published (with permission of all the children’s parents).
To the Editor: While I like the Longhouse, I do question your putting such a positive light on architect Moshi Saftbrick, given his proposal last year for the design of a skyscraper topped with a donut-shaped revolving restaurant, which would have required tearing down an historic building in the heart of downtown Bricklyn Junction. So much for Mr. Saftbrick’s remarks about the value of “historic continuity.” Fortunately the donut skyscraper project was rejected by the Federal Council. Wish Mr. Saftbrick had stuck to designing longhouses, instead of becoming a “starchitect”! — Larry B. Larsen, Bricklyn, VT.
