Hiža Mišljenova House

The client himself is a publisher originally from Puhovac, who has been promoting Bosnian traditions for a while and with Hiža Mišljenova he brings back the values of the old Bosnian house. The house will also be used as a guesthouse for young writers. The original idea was the reconstruction of an old small family house. Nevertheless, analyzing the situation, we realized that the house was in such a state that the building had to be demolished and a new one built in its place. Analyzing the old Bosnian house, we came back to its basic principles from the "Bogumil" times - one room, central fireplace, hipped roof. The house was being demolished parallel to the design process. It was discovered that the existing storeroom - "magaza", could be retained because a very healthy stone was discovered under the plaster.

All the bricks from the walls, the so-called Austro-Hungarian ones, were preserved, but they were given the role of a facade cladding on the new building. Old oak ceiling beams, the fillings between the beams, as well as window and door lintels have been preserved. Typologically, the house remains in the same dimensions, and following the tradition of an old Bosnian house, it gets a male - front yard and a female - back yard. The storeroom “magaza”, taking up half of the total space, now becomes the entrance on the ground floor with a kitchen and exit to the women's courtyard. Internal stairs connect it to the upper level with a living room, a bedroom for the owners and a guest room. The four-pitched roof and the central fireplace are the roots of traditional houses in this area. We make it again, only without eaves. The principle of a central fireplace is also applied here with a stone fireplace on the ground floor and a brick one on the first floor as a reminiscence of the original materials of which the house was made. And the central chimney comes out right on top of the hipped roof. The roof is not closed from the inside but left as a gallery and a library.

Old stone walls were preserved, old bricks reused as cladding and old wooden beams were reused as well. Same materials were implemented in the landscaping pavements and walls. Only new material inside and outside the house were planks of larch wood. The final works will probably last this whole year…or longer, until they are finished. And they lasted also because Mujo the carpenter did all his detailing in wood. And how could he not, when he, who has spent a good part of his working life in America, working on the house of Elvis Presley, says: "This House must be better than Elvis' villa.” And so, detail by detail, without a hurry, the final works lasted for two years. The grass in the yard and on the roof has grown but we still lack , the murmur of water in the women's courtyard, the smells of carnation and rose flowers, and one cherry tree. Places are known. What we don't know yet is what that "water" will look like. Our sculptor Adis is working on it, a specialist in “Stećak” tombstones and “Bosančica” letter, and we can't wait to see the sketches. And for the water to flow.