- This article is about the structure. For the Pennsylvania town,
see Spring
House, Pennsylvania.
A spring house, or springhouse, is a
small building used for
refrigeration once
commonly found in rural areas before the advent of electric
refrigeration. It is usually a one-room building constructed over
the source of a
spring.
The water of the spring maintains a constant cool temperature
inside the spring house throughout the year. In settings where no
natural spring is available, another source of natural running
water, such as a small creek or diverted portion of a larger creek,
may be used. The main use of a spring house is for the long-term
storage of food that would otherwise spoil, such as meat, fruit or
dairy products.