The wooden cottage near the Castle of Lut

I wrote at one point about some playhouses for children that looked like something out of a fairy tale. It was remarkable the mastery with which the American artist managed to render the irregular lines typical of fairy-tale houses. I was happy to discover that it can be done here. The wooden cottage in the picture is in the courtyard Castle of Lut Fairy Valley from Porumbacu de Jos and was made by Nicu Ivănescu, known to many for his skill in working solid wood.

I found out about Nicu almost a year ago and really enjoyed the meals he made. They are those tables made from a slice of wood, as little machined as possible, and that's just to highlight the beauty of the wood even more. I told him that I liked butterflies with which it catches the cracks in the wood. He told me he calls them bow ties.

We have wanted to talk more ever since, but there have always been more and more things to do, and we have not been able to. Maybe it wasn't time yet. In the meantime I saw some photos of this cottage on a profile group and I knew the time had come. So, I got in touch with Nicu to find out as much as I could about the cottage, how he came to build it, and about himself.

He told me that at some point he was contacted on Facebook by the owners of Lut Castle. They reached his page and liked what they saw there. They suggested he make a rustic style wooden house, the way he thinks a cottage in the castle courtyard should look. He made several sketches, they chose one and he set to work.

When working, Nicu is what you call a lone wolf so he has done everything mostly alone. He worked on the log cabin for about two weeks. He admits that the inside is less rustic, but that's only because certain requirements have to be met. It has 10cm basalt wool insulation and pine flooring. The interior walls are also pine.

For materials he used, as he says, pretty much what other builders reject, i.e. beech beams, hornbeam for the posts and non-timber pine planks. The roof is two rows of unglazed pine plank and a layer of OSB to support the waterproofing. Over the OSB will come a frame, also made of hornbeam, which will be loaded with 15-20 cm of soil. Because the roof of the cottage will be green, as it is done abroad by such places.

I was curious to find out what tools he used. I thought he was going to string me up all sorts of fancy tool names. "As tools... more chainsawIn fact, it's all in the chainsaw," he told me.

Some distance from the cottage, near the fence, another one appeared, also made of wood, but made of thin logs. It is also made by Nicu. It has a two-slope roof, all the way to the ground, also made of logs. Only the doors are made of planks. Do you know what he made this little wooden tent for? You won't believe it, but that's where the toilet will be.

Now the box is almost ready. All that's left is the green roof and it can take over as the castle's outdoor bar. I think it will be very pleasant to have a beer around.