Project HOUSE | Rateče, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia

An old house somewhere in the Slovenian countryside, about a year of renovation, conversion into a small guesthouse or B&B and two enthusiastic 30+ year olds. And a child (or two?), who happily run around the garden barefoot. A completely new beginning. We started dreaming in this direction sometime in the winter of 2020. The summer of 2019 brought a lot of changes. From quitting my permanent job in Germany and finally deciding to delete my German address under the “permanent residence” section forever. 10 years in the land of beer and sausages was more than enough for me and I was ready for a change. But first, we wanted to travel. Like big time. But then came the pandemics and all those plans got cancelled. So instead, we decided to have a baby. In June 2021, Mila arrived and we were only a few months away from actually moving from Germany to Slovenia. Where exactly we would settle down was still undecided. First, we took a few months for a longer road trip to satisfy those unfulfilled travel dreams a little bit, and then we landed in Kranjska Gora, in our family apartment. It was the end of November 2021 and our plan was to first sort out all the bureaucracy in peace, get used to Slovenia (again) and take the time to think about where exactly we wanted to live. Our evening ritual of monitoring real estate online has been a constant practice in recent months, and there, in February 2022, we finally found it, a little tired of searching. Our house. It didn’t meet all of our original criteria, but throughout the entire search and house hunting process, we slowly realized that it would be practically impossible to find one that would tick all of our wishes.

From Germany to Slovenia! But where exactly?

We quickly eliminated Ljubljana from our shortlist. I don’t want to live in the city again, work 10 hours a day, stand in traffic jams, rush here and there and chase the last pick-up minutes at the kindergarten. Distances in Slovenia are sooooo short anyway that you can be in Ljubljana quickly, even if you only go on a day trip. I still love my Ljubljana, and I’m always happy to visit. But if I have the privilege of choosing, then I’d rather pick something more peaceful for our new home at this stage of my life. I admit, at first I saw ourselves somewhere in the hinterland of the Slovenian coast, in a stone house among lavender fields. With a swimming pool, of course. Every summer I would bask in delicious homegrown tomatoes, buy Malvasia wine from a neighbor, and every now and then we would drive down to the coast to jump into the sea. Or somewhere in the Karst, where we would balance eating unhealthy amounts of delicious prosciutto and other delicacies with daily cycling up and down the gorgeous hills.

But do you know what happened next? We grew to like the idea of living in Kranjska Gora more and more. Even though we lived out of suitcases and hopped around the country a bit in those first months after moving, we still had our home base here in Gorenjska most of the time. And because I spent all my winter holidays skiing in Kranjska Gora as a child. studying for my Unversity exams years later, choosing the Upper Sava Valley as the topic of my diploma thesis, and always returning for at least a few days every time we came to visit from abroad, I always felt a bit at home here. Besides, we both love winter sports, hiking, fresh air, and the views of the mighty mountains are quite exotic especially for Charlie, as the landscape on his home island off the French Atlantic coast is completely different. Okay, we probably won’t grow those delicious tomatoes, we’ll have to go to the store for Malvasia wine, and instead of a pool there might be a heated Scandinavian bathtub, but still. The feeling was right. This will be our home.

So we limited our search to Kranjska Gora area. We had a beautiful old house in sight first, but someone bought it before us. Luckily, because this very same house is still in ruins today, who knows why. A little later we found ourselves in the courtyard of an older house in Rateče. And no, it wasn’t wow and love at first sight, but the more we looked at it and walked around, the more we liked it. The house is not detached and is located in the center of the village, so it’s not at all isolated, as we initially wanted. However, we also got a fairly large piece of agricultural land just about 100m away and this sounded like a good deal. So in addition to the main house, there is also a courtyard with an attached former barn building, and we could see a lot of potential for creating our home and business here. Enough searching, that’s it. It’s a good thing we didn’t dwell on it too long, because we would have found too many reasons against it, and in the end, you really can’t buy anything with this mindset. A couple of weeks later, we already had the keys!

Why not building from scratch?

The simplest answer would be that we often simply don’t like new things. That’s why we drive a 24-year-old Defender and we generally don’t like to constantly buy new things if the old ones still work. A modern, blocky, low-energy house with a gray aluminum front door and miniature windows is not exactly to our taste. We were much more drawn to the project of renovating something old. Something that already has a soul and a story, part of which we definitely wanted to preserve, despite the extensive renovation we had in mind. Something where there will be a lot of wood and natural materials, even though we will of course modernize some things. Besides, it is quite difficult to get a building plot around here and build from scratch. Now we are really happy and a little proud of everything we have managed to do in these three years. The house has got a fresh look, but nevertheless reflects the characteristic architectural features that fit into this area.

Reconstruction time frame

We worked on the house practically every day, from morning to night, but the list of things to tick off was like never ending. I often felt like precious time was slipping away from us and that we “should” be doing something else than investing money, energy and time in one material thing instead of focusing also on other non-material experiences. To be honest, based on these feelings I did have a kind of love- hate relationship with this house renovation project. Of course, I felt immense gratitude for this opportunity, because I know that not everyone is given this chance, but still… An interesting mix of emotions. And (post)pregnancy hormones haha. But these feelings are probably normal and have happened to others too? If you are in the middle of a house renovation or construction project, hang in there, everything will be OK in the end!

I was saved by a wonderful maternity leave, during which I enjoyed the fresh air and, for the last time as a mom to a newborn and I took advantage of every moment with this little baby. The beautiful nature also helped, reminding us every day how lucky we can be to live where we live. That this is our home. Our base to which we will return. Even if we ever travel for a longer period of time, we will have somewhere to return to and we will not have to start over. From this perspective, these three long years of dirty trousers, black nails and dust in our hair were definitely worth our time.

So, what exactly did we buy?

A larger multi-generational house, which does not look as large from the road as it actually is, an inner courtyard, an attached outbuilding and agricultural land located a around 100m away.

The main house is practically in the center of the village, so not alone standing, as we initially wanted, but to be honest, it’s even better for us now! Everything has its advantages. The house consists of a ground floor, first and second floors, and each floor had an apartment arranged at the time of purchase. Practically all the equipment came with it, from kitchens to bathrooms and furniture. So everything x3, because three apartments were arranged when we got the keys. We kept some pieces of furniture and used them in our apartment or up-cycled them into something new. We donated some pieces, but some pieces unfortunately also ended up in the trash.

Renovation plans and reconstruction phases

The extensive renovation consisted of several phases. First, we designed the floor plans and conceptual designs ourselves and handed them over to our lovely architect, who of course finalized everything and dealt with additional guidelines and restrictions from the municipality and the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. The house itself is not protected, but it is located just enough in the center of Rateče to still fit into the protected old village core.

While we were waiting for the green light from the above mentioned institutions, we were busy with the interior. Removing materials, dismantling furniture, removing tiles and flooring. Did I mention that the house had three kitchens, three bathrooms and everything that went with it? Yes, we did wait 8 months for that green light, but it is not like we were bored in the meantime.

When we finally got all the necessary paperwork, we were able to start major works. We demolished the interior walls, demolished the entire roof reconstruction and the exterior walls of the top floor, the old exterior staircase, the interior staircases, removed the existing insulation, the old windows, doors, and so on and so on. Let me say at this point that we did a lot of the work ourselves, but of course, we also had contractors for certain jobs, all of whom luckily met the deadlines and saved us the stress associated with it.

We added a heat pump, underfloor heating, new walls, new bathrooms (we now have 5 in total), new kitchens (we now have 3 in total), new connections, new insulation, new roof, new gutters, new windows, doors, stairs, new concrete slabs, a new extension for the children’s room, a new facade. I’m sure I forgot something else. Finally, new parquet, new tiles, new plaster, etc. etc. You get the picture. I’d rather not talk about the costs, thank you. I won’t talk about the time invested either, thank you.

Moving into the house

Ok so, fast forward to July 2025 when we finally moved in. We kept some of the equipment and furniture, we built and made a lot of it ourselves. We used the old wood from our roof structure, which turned out to be an excellent material. Our apartment is 90% finished. There’s still a little work left. We designed and built everything from the kitchen to the bathroom ourselves, with Siporex and other materials. As before, we don’t have a TV, but we do have a wall for a video projector. Instead of a marble kitchen counter, we have a massive wooden one that was once part of the roof. We don’t have a black kitchen sink, but a white ceramic one. We don’t have airfryer, microwave, steamer, etc., but we do have good Japanese knives and copper pots that probably cost as much as a return ticket to Thailand. Priorities! We also have interior wooden shutters. Because we’re not allowed to have exterior ones. We also have an old hand-painted wooden cabinet that we cut off the back and installed in a new Knauf wall. We inherited a really cool sixties style sofa from my grandmothers, the most beautiful crystal glasses and those huge soup tureens that are now waiting for Charlie to make some onion soup. Here’s a collage of the finished state and the renovation stages, for a first impression.

Of course, we also have some furniture from a well-known Swedish store, because the price/quality/look ratio sometimes really wins here. This created an interesting mix of old and new. White walls, wood, old furniture and some more modern accessories. Instead of typical bookshelves, we had previously designed niches in the walls, where mostly cookbooks and travel books are now stacked. Oh, and we also have a fireplace. It’s really fancy, so I hope we will use it lots. The children’s room is full of junk and it spreads children’s laughter throughout the house. Sometimes, of course, crying too. The house is now a real home.

Maison Lenka Guesthouse

Since the house is too big for just our little family, we decided to also arrange guest rooms. On the first floor we have three rooms, one of which is actually a studio, because it also has a small kitchen. Each unit has its own tile-free bathroom made by Charlie, a 160x200cm bed, wardrobe, bedside tables, smart TV. The studio and one room also have a balcony. Since July 2025 all three units are available for booking on the well-known booking platform starting with the letter “B” with a blue icon, the studio is also on Airbnb.

We had had a very successful first summer season1

On the top floor, we have redesigned and reconstructed the existing apartment into a holiday apartment, which is absolutely beautiful. For now, we have only hosted users of the Home Exchange platform there. But it may soon be available for others, so follow Maison Lenka on Instagram or Facebook. On our social media channels you can see more photos of the guest rooms, and read a little more about the renovation in older posts. I have documented everything superficially with a public update every few months throughout the last years. And of course, you are welcome to visit us for a mountain vacation!

Former barn and our garden

We also renovated the attached outbuilding aka the former barn. For now, we use it as a workshop and storage space. But maybe one day it will also serve our creative hobbies. On our agricultural land we revived a fruit and vegetable garden, arranged a mini playground for children, and added a terrace with a table and chairs to the existing garage with a shed. This year we had less time for gardening, but next year we are definitely back on track.

There you go. A “short” update about our house. I had intended to post more regularly about the renovation and everything that goes with it, but time run me over and our family life had other priorities. Besides, this is still a blog that has always been primarily about travel so this little insight into our private lives should do for now.

Finally, a big thank you to all our new neighbors, kindergarten parents and teachers, previous owners of the house, professional workers and companies, and everyone who helped us in any way with the renovation, moving, and the entire project, and making us feel truly at home here – THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!