The Batak tribe is a large tribe of Tapanuli region in North Sumatera. This tribe consists of six secondary tribes, the largest one being the Batak Toba tribe. The traditional architecture of their past dwellings were called Rumah Batak Toba. They vary in form and can be differentiated from one another by their functional use and building elements such as walls, stairs, entrance doors and ornamentation. Behind every different form, there was always a value or meaning. Hence the form and meaning of the Batak Toba house could be interesting objects of research. This research used random samples of Batak Toba houses in the regions of Samosir and Tobasa of the North Sumatera province, in which their inhabitants are mainly from the Batak Toba tribe. The research adopted Erwin Panofsky’s method of iconography that was conducted through two stages: pre-iconography and iconography. This method was used to describe the form and analyze the hidden meaning behind the architectural and interior forms of the Batak Toba house. Based on the analysis of data, it was found that the meanings behind the architectural and interior forms of the Batak Toba house cannot be separated from the beliefs of the Batak Toba tribe regarding the harmony between the human life and the universe (macrocosm and microcosm). A house was the embodiment of the process of human life from birth to death. It represented the ideas and views of family values, togetherness and social life as well as a representation of the values of physical protection and safety. Moreover, it was a spiritual symbol of life views, norms, beliefs, philosophical values, and local wisdom of the Batak Toba people.
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