Boyabat is a traditional settlement within to Sinop Province in northern Anatolia. It is known that settlement and the villages in its vicinity were established by nomadic Türkmen / Yörüks who settled in Anatolia from the 11th century AD. Although the traditional houses in the center of Boyabat are timber framed houses with infill material, the majority of the houses in the villages of Boyabat are houses with open sofa and starting constructed with wood log construction technique. The houses constructed with the massive block of either logs or broad planks  are named of as  kandil in the district. While the ground floor of the houses function as the depot areas and stables; the upper floor is used as the “living floor” where a big family lives together. The main load bearers of the kandil  houses that built on large lots rest on stone plinths at the ground level. The wooden posts carry the upper floor walls that are constructed with massive blocks or planks one on top of the other. The upper floor’s flooring, and the walls are attached to each other in the corners with joints.

The migration from rural settlements today and the preference for modern construction techniques and construction materials over the traditional, etc. are quickly destroying rural architectural characteristic features as in the whole world and in Turkey too. In the laws of protection in Turkey, village settlements can’t be sufficiently protected because a definition of a “rural site” hasn’t yet been found. So in rural regions, it is necessary to identify the architectural values that create this identity, document it and inventory it for the protecting and continuation of the local architectural identity.This study focuses on the architectural identities and preservation problems of the kandil  houses in Boyabat villages.