Our Cottage

 pict.1 front of the cottage  pict.2 cottage - north side

Travelling to various parts of the world inspired us to build the cottage, but it was mainly for the heritage in the United Kingdom, where we settled down a few years ago. Apparently, the region which we live in has one of the biggest collections of clay cottages in Europe. There is approximately 50 thousand of them just in Devon and Cornwall. Most of them are as old as 300 years old, some can even be dated up to the fourteenth century.
We had many opportunities to visit those cottages and every time we were taken by incredible tranquillity and silence (thanks to the walls that can be up to one metre thick) as well as the pleasant coolness in the summer and cosy warmth in the winter. People living in such houses had always confirmed the comfort of life and better health, thanks to the quality and nature of building materials.

The idea of building our own clay cottage in Poland matured gradually in our heads. It turned out that Poland is one of a few countries in Europe, where there is no need for any additional building permits or paperwork for buildings made of clay. Moreover, we found out that this kind of eco-friendly building material is being promoted and highly recommended by some organisations in Poland.
Meetings and conversations with interested people confirmed us in the belief that there is not only a possibility but also a need for such projects.
And thus, our cottage will be located in a beautiful village called Baligród in Bieszczady Mountains. A plot for this project, which has a stunning panoramic view of the surrounding mountains, was a gift from my parents.
Having a site, we just had to decide on the building method as there is more than one.  We settled on building with blocks made of straw and clay, which then will fill out a wooden construction of the building.