Andreea and Luc Hardus, a Romanian and a Dutchman, are in love with Romania and everything the country has to offer to its people and travelers everywhere. The two met in 2013, when Andreea applied for a job at Romtour travel agency, at that time a business run by Luc and his father. Since then, she and he have been running the agency together, bringing Dutch and Belgian tourists to Romania with their own tour programs. But more than that, the two have made a home in Padurea Craiului.
A happy accident and a wonderful place
They moved to Zece Hotare in May 2019 and both say they arrived in Padurea Craiului “somewhat by chance”.
“Actually, we didn’t end up here, Frans did. Luc’s father is the one who came for the first time, somewhere around 2007. By chance, he picked up two young people hitchhiking from Hungary and they invited him to Zece Hotare. On one of his visits to the area, Frans picked up an old man in his car and drove him to his home, our current home. The man told him that the property was for sale and that’s how Frans got this beautiful place,” says Andreea.
Although he comes from the Netherlands, Luc says he has lived outside the city all his life. He says that here, in Padurea Craiului, he wanted to find “more space, more freedom, a real taste of country life”. Last but not least, for the Dutchman who has made his ID of Padurea Craiului, the desire to be free and to build something on his own” was important.
In the summer of 2017, Andreea and Luc decided to renovate the wooden cottage bought by his father. They worked for 3 months with several local craftsmen. Then, in the spring and summer of 2018, they came back to Zece Hotare for other small finishing touches. “The decision to move here was made spontaneously, one August evening, after we had brought the cottage to a habitable condition. After a few weeks of hard work, we sat down for a picnic in the back of the house and, looking around, realized we could live here.”
“We weighed the decision carefully. In September 2018, we notified our families and friends that we were moving. Me in Romania, Andreea in Padurea Craiului. On 1 May 2019, we set off for our new home, which also means our new life”, explains the Dutchman who became a “Bihorean” by adoption.
“He who gives, to him gives…”
The original idea of the two young people was to renovate the mountain cottage for Frans, who also comes to Padurea Craiului every year in August. Then Andreea and Luc decided that it would be a shame to leave the house empty for the rest of the year, and so the idea of a permanent holiday cottage was born.
“We did the work in stages and a lot of the work was done by just the two of us. From May until October 2019, we lived in the holiday cottage ourselves. In the meantime, we also managed to put the cottage we live in now together,” Andreea explains. “We’ve learned to do a lot of things with our hands,” adds Luc, pointing out that the skill is one of the advantages of having “moved to the country”, away from city comforts.
They were determined to preserve the traditional style of the 80-year-old wooden house inside. “From our point of view, it was the only way to restore the life and authenticity of this cottage,” says Luc.
But the traditional style is limited to the decor. In terms of comfort, the tourist house is up to modern standards: bathroom with shower and toilet, hot water, electric boiler, fridge, stove and dishwasher. Both the double bed in the bedroom and the pull-out bed in the kitchen have new, comfortable mattresses. In cool weather, heating is provided by a fireplace and underfloor heating.
As for the investment, the couple says they haven’t kept a clear tally, but estimate they spent between €15,000 and €20,000.
New old house stories
When they first entered the cottage, three old beds were lying in the hallway that is now the kitchen. One of them was still in pretty good condition, so they decided to keep it. Now the bed has been refurbished and is still where they found it, but it has been converted into a sofa bed. It is the only piece of furniture that belongs to the house. The rest of the furniture was collected at flea markets and the kitchen furniture they brought all the way from Holland.
Much of the decor in the house is local, coming from Padurea Craiului itself. “The curtains, for example, are made from sackcloth received from a neighbor and decorated with crocheted lace from another woman in the village. The same goes for the plates on the walls, the peretaro, or the spinning wheel, which came from neighbors who appreciated the passion of the two “strangers” for old, peasant things. For the tableware, we chose to use as much Vadu Crișului pottery as possible, taken directly from the potter. From two large and two smaller pots we made two lamps that we hung in each room,” says Luc.
“If you ask the locals what this area has to offer, they will all say: ‘Fresh air, peace, and quiet’. Those who choose to stay with us find a comfortable but secluded home, a place only good for getting away from the world, getting away from stress, the rush, and the crowds. I can also tell you what tourists don’t find here: TV,” laughs Andreea.
Slowly, the two have set up a full-fledged household. They’ve built a garden plot, grown vegetables, raise chickens… But most importantly, says Luc, “we’ve met and made friends with most of the neighbors and, in the meantime, we’ve come to feel at home in Zece Hotare”.
Romanian tradition, “a form of beauty”
Andreea believes that “the Romanian traditional is, for both of us, one of the many forms of beauty”. From textiles to ceramics and furniture, “We see a lot of good taste and simplicity in traditional objects that seem to be disappearing. That’s why we try to preserve, as much as we can, something of the specificity of the place. But if traditions and crafts are lost, what is left of our cultural identity”?
She says that, if all goes well, they will set up three or four more cottages on their land. Of course, they will all be in the same traditional style “and yet different from the Old House”. In the long term, they would also like to be able to organize events or workshops on traditional crafts at Zece Hotare. “This year has taught us that sometimes we can’t stick to a plan made in good times… But we are optimistic and hope that in three to four years’ time, we will have our own little holiday park here and maybe a campsite,” adds Luc.
(Almost) nothing to lose
Andreea says she sometimes misses the city: “I miss walking through the streets, through places where there are other people. I miss the social life, the events, and the cinema. On the contrary, Luc says he has no regrets: “I don’t miss anything… Every day in the city is a day lost.”
How much does a night at the Old House cost?
Prices for accommodation are 260 lei per night (weekends only).
Midweek (5 nights from Sunday to Friday) – 1,000 lei
1 Week (7 nights) – 1.500 lei
Weekend (2 nights) – 550 lei
The price includes, in addition to accommodation, basic breakfast provisions: eggs, milk, bacon, seasonal vegetables, homemade bread, and cheese. “All products are purchased locally and what will be in the fridge depends on the season. There will also be the famous “pălincă de Bihor”, also made in the village,” explains Luc.
The house can accommodate a maximum of four people.
On request, the hosts cook or procure traditional food, prepared by neighbors in the village.
What to do at Zece Hotare?
“Our place is especially for nature lovers. Our guests can relax on the cottage terrace, picnic on the grass, watching the cows graze. Of course, you can barbecue or cook soup in the kettle outside,” says the housekeeper. Mushroom lovers (and connoisseurs!) can go mushroom picking in the woods 5 minutes from the house.
Walkers can take a few trails to the surrounding caves: Bătrânului cave, Unguru Mare cave, Vadu Crișului cave.
Adventurers can go rafting or via-Ferrata at Șuncuiuș, or they can follow one or more of the marked bike trails in the Craiului Forest.
How to get to the “Old House”
The Old House can be reached by car. The road from Șuncuiuș to the village is almost entirely asphalted; the last two kilometres are on a paved road, but can be covered by (almost) any car. The car park is about 100 metres from the cottage.
“On request, we can pick up clients from the train stations in Șuncuiuș or Bratca or from the airports in Cluj or Oradea,” says Luc.
