• The Estate
• Accommodation
• Cuisine
• Wine cellar
• Events
• Spa
• Reservations
• Contact

Welcome home.

The first elite countryside luxury apartment complex is located only one hour away from Ljubljana and Zagreb. The perfect choice for those desiring only the best. The superior offer of services, untouched nature and priceless peace and quiet ensure a pleasant feeling and a relaxed atmosphere.

Estate

The Pule Estate is an excellent display of the preserved Slovenian ethnographic heritage. The renovation of the Estate in the 17th century was carried out in accordance with the preserved archival, photographic and word-of-mouth sources and was modelled to the architectural heritage of the region. The skills of traditional craft trades such as hay-thatching, carpentry, joinery, ironworking, roofing, stone-cutting, stove-making and others were used to renovate various parts of the Estate.

Today the Estate has been renovated in its entirety. It is made up of a farmhouse, an apiary, a hay-rack and five farm buildings: barn and shed, hayloft and stables, a pigsty, workshop and granary. Below you can read more about the renovations of individual buildings in the “words of the architect” section.

The Pule Estate upgraded its role and mission through the revitalisation of the Estate, which has enabled it new functional values. At the same time, the Pule Estate remains faithful to the material, spiritual and social heritage of the countryside on Drečji Vrh (Drečje Peak).

In harmony with tradition

KAs an example of a successful attempt at reawakening a renewed relationship with the material and non-material ethnographic heritage, we could mention the example of the renovation of the Pule Estate.
In 2005, the renovation was begun of the abandoned farmstead made up of a farmhouse, apiary, hay-rack and five farm buildings: barn and shed, hayloft and stables, a pigsty, workshop and granary. In line with researched preserved sources (archives, photographs, word-of-mouth, etc.), using comparative models of preserved architectural heritage of the surroundings, respect for and use of long-lasting local materials from the surroundings (lime, beech, oak, etc.) and, of course, through the renewed use of old and almost forgotten knowledge and skills of traditional craft trades (hay-thatching, carpentry, joinery, ironworking, roofing, stone-cutting, stove-making, etc.) the entire farm was renovated.

Comprehensive renovation

On the best preserved existing farmhouse, for which it was established how far back the roots of the line of owners of the Estate reach back through dendrological chronological dating of the house ceilings (cut lumber from around 1649), drainage was constructed, the foundations were fortified, the roughcast, roof and tiles replaced, while the degraded remaining farm buildings were reconstructed on the same locations, in the same proportions and similar heights with the exception of the barn with shed, which, due to its new purpose, was extended and renewed in the form of a shed and apiary, which was relocated to the edge of the Estate. A distinguishing feature of the apiary at Pule is the preserved character of the typical traditional Carniolan apiary.

Revitalising the Estate

The renovations were carried out observing the complete original design, arrangement and organisation of the buildings according to the oldest source – the Franziscean Cadastre, from which it is evident that the arrangement of the buildings had been more or less maintained in their original state up to the renovation in 2005. As regards the client's set mission – the desire to revitalise the Estate and the renewed functional design of the Estate, the preserved building shells were modified for the basic purpose of individual buildings with the aid of an architect.

In the original hayloft and barn, there is now a stable for horses, a restaurant and the newly added wine cellar. Where the pigsty once stood, there are bathrooms while the barn and shed have become a machinery hall, the workshop a club and the granary a guest reception, memorial room and souvenir shop. The entire farm has thus acquired a new functional context as an exclusive countryside tourist estate. To this end, five additional wooden and partially brick houses were placed at the edge of the Estate alongside the forest containing apartments with the additional and non-obtrusive construction of the entire infrastructure inclusive of an underground tunnel and a hidden lift in the old house for the needs of delivery and functionality of catering activities.

Philosophy of the renovation work

The guideline in the renovation was the preservation of the original and, for that region, typical traditional design of a larger countryside estate in harmony with the nearby rural surroundings, the geographic environment and nature. In the architectural heritage of our predecessors, we can namely see that they knew how to take into consideration all these factors, thus creating the recognisable aesthetic image of some areas and regions, acquiring aesthetic and visual attributes which allow for quality living.

The upgrade is characterised by revitalisation and the new functional value of the Estate, which can be of quality, convincing and a successful with respect to and exploitation of the local past and thus the material, spiritual and social cultural heritage of the countryside on Drečji Vrh. The input of subtle and non-obtrusive contemporary architectural and design elements and functional solutions can, with the contextual and organic fusion of traditional design, only enrich this.

The melding of the heritage from our past with the wisdom of the present and a keen ear for future decision-making and planning can save the authentic image of the Slovenian cultural landscape and preserve its recognisable ambient atmospheres via local features of the Slovenian countryside.

The Important architectural ethnological attributes in the renovation and revitalisation of the Pule Estate are represented by the renewed establishment and materialisation of forgotten skills of Slovenian traditional craft trades, once passed down from generation to generation. Renewal with craft works carried out with quality, for example of stone and wood, awakens a connection with past craft knowledge and skills which ceased in the previous century. It preserves the memory of the behaviour and skills of our predecessors, which were once present and used on a daily basis, mastered and spread and deeply entrenched in the lives and pulse of the Slovenian countryside. Thus, contact has been re-established with our non-material cultural heritage and the space of our predecessors and the memory of home soil, observed respectfully.

Rupert Gole