How do you build a five-metre mill wheel? The whole story, photographs included, is on the blog.
2013
The Ruin
Thirteen years ago we were looking for a cottage. What we found was a half-derelict farmstead at the far end of Javorník – the last village before the Slovak border, nothing around but the meadows of the White Carpathians. We fell in love before we could count how much work lay ahead. First, we made it our home.
1885
The 1885 Barn
Then came the barn, built in 1885. For five years we let it as a holiday cottage – families, groups of friends, hundreds of weekends. And still we felt the place could be more. Too big for a cottage. Too beautiful for an ordinary guesthouse.
2025
The Decision
On 11 June 2025 we started building. The 1748 mill house, the hall, the suites, Blekota – all at once, with a deadline that could not be moved: on 6 June 2026, the first wedding was to be held here, with 120 guests. The first couples toured the site in hard hats, among the bricks – and booked their dates while the building was still a shell. Not finishing was never an option. We finished.
CRAFT
Craft
We hold honest craftsmanship in deep respect – and it shows at every turn. Our logo was forged by a blacksmith from Hroznová Lhota: every dent in the iron is a single hammer blow. The mill wheel was built by millwrights from southern Bohemia, the fourth generation of a family that makes nothing but mill machinery – its oak axle comes from a tree planted long ago for exactly this purpose. Six months of work in their workshop, three days of assembly here. And so it is with everything: stone slabs in the bathrooms, Czech porcelain, materials that will still be here in a hundred years.
THE TWO OF US
The two of us
We are Monika and Tomáš. Monika came up with the name Blekota; Tomáš fell for cooking over fire. The mill is still our home – we live here and look after it every day. Which is why the place looks the way it does.
RESPECT
Respect for the place
It is remote out here, but we are not alone. After 23:00 we turn the bass down – the stream carries it all the way to the village. We sort our waste and want this place to stay beautiful for generations to come. The end of the world deserves to be treated with decency.
Come and hear the story in person.