An Earth House at 450m Altitude in Suncheon, Jeollanam-do: A Stage for Korean Art Songs Protected by a Family

Architecture Exploration: House - Living Abroad Made Me Love Earth

- An earth house built at an altitude of 450m by a husband who returned after studying abroad - He built a music hall with the sole desire to promote the vanishing Korean art songs. We meet the story. - A house created by the cartoons the husband enjoyed in childhood and the experiences the wife accumulated abroad - It doesn't have just one yard, but as many as three! We explore a house that embraces three yards with different uses.

*Broadcast Date/Time: Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at 9:55 PM, EBS1

An opera house built at an altitude of 450m in the mountains

In Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, if you follow the winding roads through the deep mountains at an altitude of 450m, you will see an earth house sitting alone in the high mountains. In today's house, located at a height so high it makes your ears feel muffled, live a singer and a concert planner couple along with their son.

The husband, Eun-hun, majored in vocal music and studied in Italy. After returning to Korea, he enjoyed great success as an opera singer, but as he did, his regret regarding the increasingly forgotten Korean art songs grew. During this time, through an introduction from his cousin, he learned about the current site, which not only sits at a high altitude with beautiful scenery but is also free from surrounding noise. Eun-hun decided to settle here and build a music hall for art songs. Even though it was an environment in the deep mountains where proper roads were not even laid and construction materials and people were not easy to obtain, he could not give up. He worked by personally carrying and stacking stones on-site, undergoing numerous large and small injuries in the process. There was even a time when he was seriously injured enough to require sixteen stitches, but he did not shy away from the difficult process if it was for the sake of promoting art songs. The music hall was built based on his experience of European stages during his studies abroad; the space was designed in a circular shape considering sound resonance, and holes were made in the ceiling so that unnecessary sounds could escape. He agonized to ensure that musicians' voices could resonate sufficiently even without a microphone. Through the husband's meticulous touch, the music hall revealed itself like this. Here, every year, they hold an art song festival with top domestic performers, continuing the lineage of art songs.

The earth house resembles the husband, who wants to protect our art songs and traditions. Completed over two years in the most primitive way—working with his cousin who is a carpenter to weave roofs and install ondol (traditional floor heating) to supplement heating, replacing the already disappeared thatched houses—this house's main materials are loess from the ground, pine trees, and stone. To be able to see the excellent scenery from inside the house due to its location at 450m altitude, large windows were installed on three sides; eventually, a house unlike any other in the world was completed by fitting glass into pine trees on-site. Later, after settling here four years ago, they chose to renovate the roof instead of using thatch.

The husband and his son, Ui-hyeon, are school seniors and juniors. The son, who was active in Seoul as a vocalist and jazz vocalist, wanted to add strength to his father's dream. Then one day, he received a request from his father to join the site as a stage director for the art song festival held at the music hall, and he moved down from Seoul to Suncheon. Ui-hyeon also contributed to the art song festival and actively participated in the process of renovating the earth house, such as re-organizing the floor by installing a boiler instead of ondol. While he did not completely renovate the old elements, he focused on making a house where the resident would not be uncomfortable, and he refined the space according to his own sense. While repairing the house himself, what actually captured his heart was the original appearance of the house where the loess is exposed and the rafters are visible. Contrary to the couple's concern that a young person moving into the house might experience discomfort living there, the natural beauty of the old ways felt even more sophisticated to the son. After the son moved down to Suncheon, the family is working together to operate an international art song festival and promote Korean art songs.

The house building, which started from the desire to promote the vanishing Korean art songs, has become what it is today through the layers of the family's sincerity and time. Eun-hun says that he wants to continue working on songs here and protect traditional things as much as he can to promote art songs. Now, Architecture Exploration: House explores this house, which has become a precious home for the family.

The 'The House with Three Yards' that turned a dream into reality

In Paju, Gyeonggi Province, today's house, where a gray square house and a blue garden harmonize beautifully, is a place that realizes the long-held dream of the owner couple, and it is a house with as many as three yards.

During her childhood, the wife, Ji-su, lived in the United States for a while due to her father's work and experienced large gardens and houses closely. That memory led to a dream of living in a country house with a garden someday. The husband, Beom-jun, also had an admiration for the appearance of country houses in the cartoons he enjoyed as a child. The dreams of the two, starting from different memories, were realized one by one, starting with building a country house. They did not plan for three yards from the beginning. In the process of meeting the budget, things had to be given up, and the couple contemplated one by one what they absolutely wanted to keep and what parts could be realistically adjusted. In that process, they decided to expand the dream, which could not be fully realized inside the house, to the yard. Instead of one large yard, they composed three yards with different characters to divide the space, allowing them to enjoy nature both inside and outside the house. Ultimately, after coordinating the dream the couple envisioned with realistic conditions, it became today's unique house embracing three yards.

Upon entering the house, a large island counter immediately catches the eye. Using a so-called LDK structure that connects the kitchen and living room into one, the design adds a sense of openness to the entire house rather than separating spaces. Since the kitchen offers a clear view of the living room, family members can naturally face each other even while staying in their respective areas. It has become a space where they can share daily life and converse with guests when they visit. Because they can check on one another just by turning their gaze, no one feels isolated even when spaces are divided. Instead of erecting conventional pillars or walls to divide the space, they utilized furniture. Through the touch of the wife, who has always loved decorating homes, natural materials and old furniture are placed throughout to create the boundaries of the spaces. The three yards also have different uses: a sandplay area for the children, a space for the wife who normally loves earth, and a space that realizes the husband's dream.

The homeowner couple met as seniors and juniors while working as broadcasting PDs. Although they formed a good connection through work, it was not easy for the wife to continue her life as a PD after having a child. While spending time quitting her job to build the house and tend to the yard, she finally realized that she had been experiencing burnout. In particular, she naturally came to understand why she had been so exceptionally drawn to earth, and in that process, she experienced the healing power provided by nature while tending to the house and garden. For the wife, this house has become more than just a nest that realizes the rural house she dreamed of in her childhood; it has become a space that breathed vitality back into her exhausted self. Now, on days that are exceptionally difficult, the wife goes outside to tend the garden. The husband says that it is the wife's way of caring for and recovering herself.

The romantic ideals held since childhood have gathered into one, finally becoming today's home. explores the romantic house of a couple that gifted them a time of healing beyond just a dream.

*Related photos can be found on the EBS official website (about.ebs.co.kr)-Cyber PR Office-Highlights, on the corresponding broadcast date.

◆ At a Glance

· Publishing Institution: EBS

· Category: Architecture Exploration: House

· Distribution: September 21

Source: EBS Press Release

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