The family house is situated in the village of Černová (a suburb of Ružomberok). I worked out the design while still being a student. Only good friends can trust a friend – an aspiring architect. That confidence is appreciated even more when it is such an essential investment as building a house. And, moreover, when one is open to the house layout and does not insist on standard Slovak ideas about living, then the work is enjoyable. Although a house with a tiny budget can arise, commitment is all the more strong. The investor made ​​a large part of the work by himself. The house is located on a slightly sloping plot elevated above the road. The terrain allows embedding the garage, separated from the house, to the ground. The house itself has two-floors and a flat roof. The terrain also affects the height of the interior layout. The main living area has 3 height levels. The kitchen with the dining room is on the lowest floor, above which there is an open mezzanine area. There are four stairs leading from the kitchen to the main living space with a height of two floors. And then there are more stairs leading to the mezzanine and children’s bedrooms. The interior was made ​​by the owners (with minor consultations). An interior fireplace, which they cleverly designed and realized by themselves, is the evidence that they have accepted and understood the house design. The limited budget did not allow them to complete everything at once or use exclusive materials and refined details. This gives the building a coarser expression and thus may fit better into the rural environment. It also characterizes the possibilities of the young generation in Slovakia dealing with the issue of housing, and even though they have taste and know what is nice, they have to get to a minimum. It is a good school for a young architect: to give up image things and focus on essentials, i.e. to organize space well, respond logically to the landscape or plot orientation, think over the views and capture the light.

Design: 2005

Project: 2005

Construction: 2006-2009

Built-up area: 143 m²

Useful floor area: 169 m²

Photographer: Pavol Mičáň