Confession: We never really wanted a summer house. Zuzi said that people who have one tend to become slaves to it, and once they buy it, they stop travelling abroad. We never wanted that. Also, it should be noted - for those not growing up in Czechia - that summer houses are a big deal here. Having a summer house under Communism was having a little safe haven, a „room of one’s own“, but in a completely different sense. Many people had one, while others aspired to have one. Buying and selling summer houses is a big part of the real estate business here. But as we said, we never wanted one, really.
And then 2020 came. And we got stuck in our apartment, in the middle of a city, avoiding crowds, barely leaving. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a summer house somewhere in a village, where you could just breath a little, walk around the woods and meadows, enjoying your solitary, mask-less existence? Yes, if there were two professions that saw their businesses flourish during the pandemic, it was divorce lawyers and realtors in the countryside.
Anyway, long story short, we have a summer house. We invited you ask us questions about it on our Instagram, so this is a post that will try to answer many of them.
Eating al fresco on the table outside has become our favorite thing to do at the summer house, weather permitting.
How did we find the summer house?
The answer is so 2020 - on Instagram. We saw it in the stories of Karolína Four who knew the previous owner, interior designer with a big following under Zuzana Iconioo, and shot the photos for her cookbook there. We wrote Zuzana on Tuesday, set up a meeting on Friday and said yes pretty much right away. We were the second in the queue and she had to cancel everybody else. The third family actually came over while we were there for inspection and we all hooked up and chatted for about an hour. It was really nice.
One of the lucky delayed-shutter pics.
Where is it?
It is in a small village called Bousov, just a few miles/km from Čáslav, a very old tiny town in Central Bohemia, which again is just a few miles/km behind Kutná Hora, a very popular tourist destination. The summer house is literally the last house in the village, in a part called - and we got this from the village’s Mayor - „Svobodovo“, since members of the Svoboda family, our neighbours, have lived in the nearest three buildings forever. The plot is fairly small but cute: on one end, there’s a little stream (you can hear it from the cottage in the summer when you open the windows), and the plot leans into a steep wall on the other side, which makes it a bit secluded and private. It’s just you, the house, the stream and the meadow across the stream (which is municipal property and not designed for construction).
One of the things Jan loves most about the summer house is the stars. The stars!
What to look for in a summer house?
We’ll tell you what we were looking for in a summer house: in terms of location, we wanted no more than an 1.5 hour drive from Prague, which this is just about it. We also wanted a summer house connected to utilities like, electricity, water and sewerage. You know, a comfortable stay. So it needed to be somewhere at the end of a village with all the infrastructure. Our summer house is literally at the end of our village - we are the last house, and nothing else behind us. In a perfect world, a view would have been nice, but we’d just go with your gut feeling here and have an open mind: maybe the place that does not tick all your boxes will have something you’ll love and didn’t even know you needed. Our summer house does not have a view; actually, it is secluded and tucked away beneath a hill, but we love it.
One of the “before” pictures. As you can see, “before” wasn’t that bad.
Any advice on buying?
Yes. This may sound obvious, but do some proper due diligence. Luckily, we both have lots of lawyer friends (is that luck, really?) who immediately found there was a very old, nearly forgotten lien on the property in favour of the village. We had it sorted out, but even when everybody involved acts in good will, there may be some old matters that still linger around, and you want that to be dealt with, really. Also, if you’re buying in a village, think of that village as an owners association because sooner or later, you will have to be making some joint decisions on „common areas“. Meet the Mayor, bring a bottle of wine, introduce yourself. You’d be surprised how much new knowledge you’ll get out of that meeting.
You also have to decide how much work you want to put into the summer house. Some summer houses are very old and atmospheric, and you’ll buy them thinking you’ll invest in restoration and have a beautiful old home. The problem is you never know what the construction company may find when they start digging in - the condition of the house may not be fit for restoration but demolition. We’ve heard of friends having to basically tear down and rebuild from scratch. And how long’s that going to last until you can move in? So you buy new? But then again, maybe the design is not to your liking and you don’t want to remodel something new, especially after just having spent premium on a new building. Of course, you can also just buy land and build from scratch, or maybe put a pre-existing system in there, like the vool Blokki. None of these paths to a summer house are wrong - they just demand different time schedules, pricing structure and effort, and you should we aware of that and set your expectations right.
Luckily, given how big the market is for summer houses here in the Czech Republic, „you’ll never walk alone“: there is infrastructure from building companies to landscapers to DIY stores that will help and maybe guide you along the way.
And that’s a before picture of the ground floor. Note the extension cord in the kitchen, the only source of electric power there. One of the things we needed to fix.
Did we have any work done on it?
We did. While the structure itself was sound, we needed a few things differently. To give you an idea: the kitchen was nice, but it absolutely lacked any power connections - the fridge may have been built in, but was running on an extension cord from a different part of the room. Some lights were affixed but didn’t have any power connections leading to them - in a sense, they were just decorations. The shower was there, but not the glass curtain that would avoid splashing. The upped floor was perfect - we barely touched it - but the bottom was changed, especially the kitchen, the wiring and some of the plumbing.
And here’s one of the after pictures: bed by Karup Design, the Vitra LCW chair, the cork table and small bed-side table all by Vitra, table by Menu Space, vase by Lukáš Svoboda, Revo radio on the right, Menu Space lamp on the right too, and small lamp by & Tradition and another vase by Dechem. Bed linen mostly by Zara Home.
The kitchen and bottom floor:
One of the things we like the most about the summer house is that there’s a lot of light inside. Older summer houses tend to have small windows that are difficult to remove and replace with something bigger either due to structural concerns or - yikes - historical protection. Our summer house is really one giant space, a loft, with big roof windows over the kitchen. We wanted to preserve that as much as possible, so we took the top shelves out and just kept one open shelf.
Kitchen, the before picture:As you can see, no electric outlets, no stove. We did put some electricity in, uncovered the fridge, took the top drawers out.
We also added electricity to the kitchen where there was none before. We mean, who doesn’t love an induction stove that is actually built into the countertop, a dishwasher that works, and outlets for the toaster and electric kettle? Bye bye, extension cords! We kept the bottom shelves but repainted them, and added a new, solid wood ash countertop. One final touch: the retro fridge by Smeg - we have loved them for a long time, and now we finally have one. (Pro tip: they are not as expensive as you’d see them online. You just have to write an email to the actual Smeg distributor, and you’ll be surprised at the price quote you’ll get.)
As for the rest of the ground floor, we did keep the shelves and the table from the previous owner. We just added a few things: three classic chairs by Ton, a Czech manufacturer, behind the dining table. The sofa is new, too: it’s very comfy futon sofa-bed by Karup, a Danish company. It’s solid wood and all natural upholstery, and it unfolds into a queen-sided bed actually. We added various tray tables in front of the sofa, some by Muuto, some by Menu Space. In the corner, we put in a Muuto standing light that we bought cheap as a displayed light in the Stockist shop. And in case you wondered, all the concrete pots for the plants are from Ikea, as is the rug.
We didn’t touch the top floor structurally - it was more about fitting it out.
What’s the strategy behind the interior decor?
It’s simple: we love Danish design, and Mid-Century Modern design, especially by the Eameses. (Whatever we can afford.)
So for the beds: we bought extra mattresses for the Ikea double bed that was already there, and moved the bed to the street side of the room. We bought a simple bed frame for a king bed, again from Karup, and some latex mattresses. The bed linens are a combination of Zara Home and Soho House Home. Next to the bed, we have a small table by Vitra and a table by Hay.
What really ties the room together, or the river side of the room, is the absolutely beautiful Vitra LCW chair by the Eameses. We have always wanted to have it, and now we do. Sure, in the ideal world, there would be an Eames Lounge Chair, but hey, we’re not made of those. Next to it, we have the Cork Table by Vitra and another table by Menu Space.
(Note: we do have a paid collaboration with Vitra, and we were given the LCW chair for free. Now, this is a dream come true for us, and we will be happy to recommend Vitra products to anyone - it’s a household name in other parts of the world, but slightly less known in the Czech Republic. Go check out their beautiful showroom on Křižíkova in Karlín. We’re supposed to write that, but even if we weren’t, we’d recommend it. It’s a dream brand collaboration for us, really. ‚Nuff said.)
We did keep the white Ikea drawers. We think they fit the top floor very well. On one of the drawers, we have our trusty Revo radio, which is absolutely amazing and it is always on. If you don’t know Revo, you should check them out. The sound that comes out of it is just amazing. Also, the beautiful Menu Space light and a smaller light by &Tradition, another Danish brand we like, finishes the look.
What’s left to be done?
Oh, everything outside. The lawn looks like the final day at the Wimbledon… and it was the heavyweights tennis tournament. We also want to put as herbs and maybe a vegetable garden in…. And how about a hot tub? But mostly landscaping. As it is, the garden is „wild“, and we want to keep that feeling going forward. But the truth is that a bit of landscaping wouldn’t hurt.
Final thoughts?
In hindsight, we think the decision to buy the summer house was a good one. We’re happy here. With all the restaurants, cultural facilities and so on closed, we see very little point in actually staying in Prague. And our life in our chata is a very calming, relaxing experience. There is something magical about watching the fire and stars at night over a nice drink you fix yourself, and then waking up to see birds fly over the trees just outside your window.