Rumah limas

Rumah limas ("limas house"), also known as rumah bari ("old house"), is a type of traditional house found in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia. They can also be found in Baturaja. The wooden house is built on stilts with a stepped floor composed of two to five levels of different height, a broad porch, and a distinctive roof. In Palembang, these houses are associated with the nobility and people with high status. The style has been adopted across Sumatra, Java, and Malaysia by the Dutch and the Chinese alike.

The article covers the specific limas house of Palembang. For the Malay limas house (rumah Melayu atap limas) prominent in places like Riau and Malaysia, see Malay houses.

Limas houses traditionally began as pile-dwellings along the River Musi. Palembang, being a vibrant port city, was exposed to foreign influence. Clay roof tiles had been used for limas houses since the early 15th-century when the new material was introduced to the Sultan of Palembang by Admiral Cheng Ho in 1407. After that, thatch roof covers were replaced with clay roof tiles.

A Chinese chronicle from the early 15th-century discusses special rules concerning the ownership of certain house types in Palembang, although it did not explicitly mention exact house types. Formerly, the Palembang society was divided into three classes: nobility (divided into priyayi and mantri), commoners, and slaves. The sultans were the only people that were allowed to live in brick houses. Commoners usually lived in wooden pile dwellings, whereas immigrants were only allowed to live in raft houses (rumah rakit).

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