Danish homeowners protect their beach fronts from being washed away by installing concrete and boulder breakwaters. Land is mostly rolling farmland with large patches of forest scattered throughout. All the forests are planted, with most trees the same height in each stand. All the land has been touched in some fashion by man, right to the waters edge. The pattern for farmhouses and villages, established long ago, before the 15th Century, say, was good enough to keep through the 20th Century.
Open air abounds in parks and private courtyards, all well-groomed and colorful.
Ponds and canals add quiet and peace and invite wild creatures. A typical farm home rises around a central courtyard with exposed timbers and thatched roof. Animals are sheltered in one section, people in another. Maintenance equipment, for wheel wrighting, candle making, forging and weaving, is contained in a third. Some habitations keep animals and people close together for warmth.