A friend over yonder in Ireland will tell you. The old solution to this was some absurdly thick walls (literally one meter thick stone masonry walls) and a big fireplace in the middle.

He swears it works beautifully, and I believe him. While if left in disuse, houses like these can become cold, damp, chilly, and even drafty... but get that fire place going and in a day or two, everything dries out, the heat seeps into the thick stone walls, and all the cracks close up.

It sound very pleasant to live inside of, provided you have enough fuel for the fire.