Old Stavanger, or Straen as the area is also called, is Northern Europe's best-preserved wooden building. It is the older building on the slope west of Vågen in Stavanger, which today is covered by the term. In numbers, this amounts to 173 protected and restored wooden houses that were built at the end of the 18th and during the 19th century. Most of the houses are painted white, but offer variation in size, style and design. The houses are placed on the plots as the house builders and owners thought fit best.