There is a stark difference between the comfort of the peasant houses in Wallachia, southern Romania, in the 19th c and the early 20th c, according to their level of wealth, which was tied to their social status as serfs, indentured or free, land owning peasants. That division was reflected in the location of these social sub-classes: the lowlands, the large arable, grain crop regions was the place of the serf and indentured villages, while the highlands, the Subcarpathian hills, was the area of traditionally free peasant communities. This video discusses the marked difference in the comfort of the houses inhabited by those peasant communities of Wallachia, before the breaking up of the large landowning estates, and modernisation of the country.
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My aim, through this series of blog articles, is to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania and Southeast Europe, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of world’s architectural history and heritage.
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If you have a historic house project in Romania or other country in Southeast Europe, I would be delighted to advise you in aspects pertaining to its architectural history and ways to preserve as much as possible from its period fabric and aesthetics in the course of restoration or renovation works, or to counsel you with specialist consultancy work related to that project. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this website.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 