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So, when you use a dragon for military purposes, it's probably for the best to keep them close and keep them happy. Which means building them a place they can call home.

Now, housing a dragon is quite difficult, you have to proof the place against hissy fits when the dragon start flipping tables, you have to make sure the home is defensible if assassins come around, and most importantly, you have to make it comfy! A warm fireplace, a soft bed of the right size, etc...

The dragon

So, your typical western dragon with six limbs in total. Size is generally where I have a breakdown but I say 2-2.5 meters at the highest point (where the wing's humerus is located) and 500 kg in weight, thanks to pneumatization. The wings span at around 12 meters and are the broad soaring type.

The dragon's scales provide some protection and the pneumatized layer between the skin and muscles makes laying on a hard floor more bearable, still, the dragon demands to have soft things they can lay on.

The total body length is 10 meters, half of which is the tail, their main weapon. Dragons have flexible necks and usually keep their head up, further adding to their effective height.

While dragons have a breath weapon, they never use it indoors.

Dragons have human intelligence. Though they can manipulate things with their wings and forelegs (they can opening a door) and with their mouth (like horses), they're rather gawky/clumsy.

This dragon doesn't really like humans but does like cooked and baked food, so he'll tolerate them.

Assuming late-medieval tech, what would a house for a dragon look like?

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  • $\begingroup$ I would appreciate a lot more details. Are his scales too hard through which he can sense the softness of pillows? Does he eat cooked food? Does he have servants? Does he have opposable thumbs? How much of his furniture is for him to utilise, and how much for any human servants? "Your typical western dragon" doesn't cut it when describing something like furniture. $\endgroup$
    – KeizerHarm
    Apr 5, 2020 at 17:17
  • $\begingroup$ @KeizerHarm Anything else? $\endgroup$
    – Mephistopheles
    Apr 5, 2020 at 17:30
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    $\begingroup$ I mean, does he have a sense of aesthetics? A specific taste? Just think of how much human interior design varies from person to person. And how much is the person building him this house willing to spend on it? What are his motivations; does he want to coddle the dragon, or is the home more of an analogue to military quarters? Or is the dragon building his own house? $\endgroup$
    – KeizerHarm
    Apr 5, 2020 at 17:38
  • $\begingroup$ @KeizerHarm I did say the goal was to keep the dragon happy and that they're a military asset. $\endgroup$
    – Mephistopheles
    Apr 5, 2020 at 17:47
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    $\begingroup$ house for simplistic Typical western dragon $\endgroup$
    – Li Jun
    Apr 6, 2020 at 3:48

2 Answers 2

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Like a cross between a castle and a church.

Castles are better protected against fire, at least one side is (the outer walls). They are also build to withstand a lot of blunt force such as a battering ram or a rowdy dragon after a bit too much to drink.

Churches are less fireproof (see the Notre Dame or other churches that burned down). However their style of building would suit a dragon. Large open spaces and a lot of height because of the arches, which have their own supports outside of the church. If you put stairs at the far end of the doors you can have sentries keep watch for assassins in the wide open space that they have to travel through to reach the dragon. The height has another advantage: any heat will rise up and have more room to expand, allowing the humies that keep him company to keep breathing air instead of noxious fumes and reducing fire hazards.

The furniture would mostly be metal and stone. A table out of a big stone slab, or just more masonry, would suit the dragon fine. Although a dragon might enjoy a large heap of sand as well as it is reasonably soft and malleable to his desires. And all you need is a bunch of humies with brooms and buckets to get it in a heap again!

Any visible wood support beams would be ironclad and treated so it is less likely to catch fire.

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    $\begingroup$ typical western dragon like gold and precious stuff after all, probably the furniture is made of gold and precious stone or inlaid with it, also use gold coin for the dragon bed rather than sand or at least gold sand they sleep and swim on it for a reason, so it probably the most comfiest to them like scrooge mcduck. the coin probably from the dragon own wage anyway. $\endgroup$
    – Li Jun
    Apr 6, 2020 at 3:43
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    $\begingroup$ @LiJun unfortunately gold isnt very useful for furniture. Solid gold is heavy and extremely expensive, having most of your country's gold tied up into a gold pile for the dragon isnt useful. Gilding the furniture would mean you have to re-apply it constantly as a 500kg dragon is going to be wearing it off in weeks, sometimes mere minutes. Also I dislike many of the "standard" fantasy traits that make no sense at all so I stayed away from gold and precious everything $\endgroup$
    – Demigan
    Apr 15, 2020 at 8:52
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    $\begingroup$ Such a construction could also please the dragon's vanity. Supposedly, this is a common thing with dragons. $\endgroup$
    – And
    Apr 22, 2020 at 10:00
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The dragon can manipulate objects but is too clumsy for hobbies requiring refined motor skills. That means there's barely any activities left, recreational or otherwise that have to be done indoors. So the house just got a lot smaller.

I don't think stone would necessarily be the main construction element. It depends on whether these are permanent quarters meant for coddling the dragon, or temporary housing in order to utilise it, but I lean more towards a yurt design. Ask the Mongols; those tents are easy to keep warm; and it can be broken down and reconstructed wherever the dragon is needed. He could even carry the materials on his back as he flies to a new destination.

I think of an elongated tent which he can easily fit in, and have dinner delivered inside, but for stretching he should move out. The main materials would be rough cloth like jute; you don't need silk if you cannot tell the difference under the scales. Plus this cloth would be sturdy enough not to wear out too quickly, and easily replaceable if it did, because the whole thing is meant to be routinely disassembled.

Think of these as field quarters at the least, and maybe as permanent housing if I surmised correctly that he doesn't have any indoor hobbies.

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