The Cottage in the Woods

This week I was asked if I had the time to take a look around, and give my thoughts on a historic timber framed cottage that my best friend's thinking of moving to. I've been busy like crazy recently, but there was no way I was going to miss an opportunity like this.

After living here at No 19 for the last five years, Rob has decided he likes this area of Central Europe and wants to take the next step in settling down here. He also loves historic houses and is passionate about finding a place that hasn't been altered too much over the years.

He'd already seen the house and we'd discussed it in great detail so I kind of had an idea what to expect to some degree, and like any building you're considering living in, there was a lot for Rob to think about.

Unlike No 19, the house in question is a wooden framed building from around 1800. It has two principle floors, two attics, a barn, a long balcony on the front, a well, and a cellar. This style of house is very typical in this area of north Bohemia and they are often really beautiful.

Although it hasn't been lived in for a while, one of the pluses of the house in question is that it's had very little done to it over the years. Although this might sound like a negative, in my opinion it really isn't. Many of these houses have been modernised, often losing the very essence that makes them unique.

We arrived at the cottage on a freezing, but beautifully sunny morning. We'd picked the agent up from the nearby town of Litoměřice where the thick fog hadn't yet lifted, and drove up into the hills breaking through into stunning blue skies and sunshine. A day like this is always going to influence the way you feel about a place, so I was very aware that I had to try to remain objective.

My initial thoughts were that I liked it a lot. From the outside it wasn't in a bad state and, although in need of a lot of love, it had the potential of being a beautiful home.

Many of the windows have been replaced at some point with well designed replica opening sections and hinges, keeping the original sills and surrounding details. The timbers seem to be in pretty good condition and still have the original details that make these buildings so beautiful.

It wasn't until we got inside that I saw the real magic of this house. What many people might see as neglect and a lot of work, to me is a real opportunity to create a home that combines the benefits of modern life with the beauty of a world that has long since gone.

Entering a small hallway at the back of the house, I was instantly struck by the doorway opposite me. To the right was an original built in bench which joined the clean frame of the door that sat among the huge, dark timbers that formed the structure of the building. The details on this door are beautifully preserved. The wooden panels, the iron hinges, even the original latch mechanism have all survived. In the centre of this amazing piece of history is a tiny window: a peephole into the kitchen beyond which is clearly the heart of the house.

This room has the potential to be stunning. South facing with six windows overlooking three sides of the house. Again, the walls are made up of the structural beams filled with a plaster creating a continuous horizontal line broken only by the pretty evenly spaced windows. The floors are partly tile on concrete, but mainly wide wooden floorboards.

One of the real gems for me in this house is the hall floor. At No 19 the original hall floor had been removed and replaced with concrete by the time we bought the house. But this place has an absolute beauty!

Decorative tiles in black and white with a contrasting edging framing the design. By the cellar door the tiles are cut to make way for the huge slabs of basalt that form the steps leading down under the house.

These steps curve round and are beautifully cut to compensate for the ending of a wall and opening of a doorway into the main cellar.

In this room is a well: a seemingly modest square of clear water cut out of the stone floor... an ingenious self replenishing spring that is more than a blessing for anyone who likes a well watered garden in the hot, Czech summers.

There are other various small rooms off the central hall including the original black kitchen and main chimney. There's also an original pump in the hall under a built in table that draws (or used to draw) water up from the well below.

Upstairs are three pretty large bedrooms, a further bedroom that could be a bathroom (the main bathroom is currently downstairs off the back hallway) and a large hallway with a door to the balcony.

This hallways has a lovely atmosphere. It's dark and you're surrounded by wooden beams, posts and a sense of history that you don't often find in houses nowadays.

The stairs are original but the banisters are new. However, there's a beautiful wooden post in the corner - carved by hand and worn over the centuries by thousands of touches

These are details that connect the past with the present. It's a privilege holding a piece of wood that's been held by generations of occupants before you.

Above all of this are two large airy attics. The day we visited they were flooded with light and the great expanse of mud and wooden floors were only interrupted by the huge chimney and supporting beams.

At the far end of this attic is a hole in the floor that drops down to the room below which is accessed from the outside balcony and then down again to a huge barn that joins the far end of the house. These rooms are amazing as they are now, but could be easily done up to form further living space if required.

I left this house with the feeling of having experienced something really unique. As time passes fewer and fewer of these gems remain untouched and even if I know this is progress, it's also a little sad.

Ultimately, it's easy for me to say I love this house and I think Rob should buy it, as I'm not the one who's going to have to live there. But if I were, and I wanted a project that I could believe in, a house that would some day shine, a place I could truly call home, I think this cottage in the woods would be a pretty good starting point.