Sepac - Old Residential Houses

The theme chosen for this year's Small European Postal Administration Cooperation (SEPAC) stamp issue is 'Old Residential Houses'' MaltaPost's SEPAC issue features 4 stamps depicting old residential houses, two of which are in Mdina, one in Valletta and another in ¯urrieq. Photographs by Alina Absalamova, Angela Spiteri, Anthony Xuereb and Stephania Grixti respectively.

Old residential houses are found in most of the localities of these Islands' and they reflect the various social, economic, political and technological eras of our past.

Construction and design of the typical old residential houses was mainly driven by the local climate. Common features of these houses were the thick walls made from local globigerina limestone providing strength and insulation, high ceilings, flat roofs, cross-ventilation, a back garden or courtyard and an underground water cistern, which until the early 1940s served as the household's main water supply.

Ceilings of such old houses were supported by timber beams while the stone staircases were wrapped with wrought iron balustrades.

A typical façade of an old residential house comprised brightly coloured timber front doors and louvered windows with a balcony either in stone or wood.

Such houses are typically found in village cores surrounding the parish church, however a good number of these disappeared over the years to make way for newer buildings. Those houses that survived have become iconic and sought-after by locals and foreigners.