Casa Mica means 'Small house'. We must be the only 8 person villa rental with a house name like that. The accommodation is spread out over three traditional Maramures wooden buildings. Two are houses, Casa Mica in the middle of the picture below and Casa Veke on the right. The barn on the left is an open dining/barbecue area where you can have lunch in the shade in the summer or sit around an open fire with a bottle of Holinka in the winter. The houses are private, set on a 1/4 acre plot in the middle of the village of breb, and within a 5 minute walk of the church and the main bar/shop in the village.
Casa Mica has been open since September 2011. This house sleeps2/ 3 people and provides the kitchen and dining area for both houses and will seat 6 people comfortably. From next spring Casa Veke, on the right in the picture below, will be open with sleeping capacity up to 4/5 people. We are doing the finishing touches to the interior over the winter. This means if you want to rent the house now or over the winter, it will accommodate up to three people. Casa Vece may be finished by December so check if you want to book the villa for the christmas holiday period. The prices currently quoted for the villa are for a maximum of three people. To see the costs of the accommodation see availability & costs
Casa Mica is 7 x 5 meters. It's around 100 years old and was originally located in another part of the village. It was moved to it's current location around 50 years ago. The last person to live in the house, was a Nun. She was married at one point but her husband was... a little mad from what we can gather and so she lived in the house for many years on her own. Maria's mother told us the story of the Nun and said it was always a happy place to visit, full of love and prayer. The Nun (we don't know her name) used to weave and sew in the room on the left below as well as cook and sleep in it. The room on the right was purely for keeping firewood and had an open ceiling to the roof. Watch our video, The house that Penny Built. Part 2 further down on this page and see Maria's mum telling us the story.
When we bought the house and land, it was in a pretty poor condition and falling apart. It has taken two summers to restore.From the outside it still looks as it was originally, except for the new roof. But the inside has been completely renovated and in places is totally new, for example the bathroom and fitted kitchen.
The video to the right gives you a 4 minute guided tour inside Casa Mica. Click on the 'you tube' button to start the video. Below are details and pictures of each room in the house.
The room shown below, is the main living area of the house. Our Nun lived, worked and slept in this one room. We have kept many of the original fixtures and fittings and re hung the plates in the same places as they were when we found them. The walls and beams have been completely restored as you will see in the two videos below.
The room is very bright in the morning with the sunlight coming through both windows lighting up the white walls.
There are board games, cards and an ipod station for you to use. The sofa doubles as a bed. Sleeping in front of the wood burning fire could be a very romantic option.
There is a modern wood burner in the Living room as you can see in the picture below taken from the other side. It will keep you warm as toast on even the coldest day of the year. There is a plentiful supply of wood from our own renewable source of firewood from the 25 hectare of land we have outside the village we are slowly learning to farm, so don't feel guilty about putting another log on, there is plenty. The bedroom is directly above the living room, so all the heat from this room that escapes rises into the bedroom keeping both rooms warm.
The wooden shoes the old lady used to use to power her sewing machine are still sitting on the same shelf where she left them.
The kitchen/diner caters for six people. There is a electric oven and four gas hobs allowing you to cook a romantic dinner for two by candlelight or a feast for six. The kitchen is well stocked, with spices, pasta and rice. in fact everything you need to cook a meal minus the veg and any meat you may want. These can be bought locally from the sheppard's or the shops in Ocnar Sugatag where the local market is every Thursday.
The kitchen was originally a room for just keeping firewood with a dirt floor and no ceiling. Penny designed the layout using old oak beams from another house and persuaded the local carpenter to keep the original finish to the wood when building the fitted units. It's a cosy room with views out over the garden and stream next to the land. The kitchen is just for you to use, so if you rent Casa Mica, you have the house to yourselves!
The dining table seats six people and we have cutlery, plates, bowels etc also for six. The plates hanging from the roof beam are from a house originally from Calanesti. The house has been relocated to a zone called Zapodi, but as it is up the mountain, we keep the plates and valuables down in the village.
There are several small shops in the village based in peoples homes where you can buy supplies for cooking but if you want fresh meat and vegetable you either need to get them from people in the village, we can show you how, or from Ocna, so plan ahead for any meals you wish to cook yourselves.
The bedroom is upstairs and has a bathroom across the hall so if no one is staying in the bed downstairs then the bathroom acts like an en suite. The beds are traditionally made,by Georgi, a talented carpenter who lives in the village, and the mattresses are..brand new and very comfortable. We did have the original straw mattress, but we thought we'd update that bit.
The bedroom is simply decorated, again in keeping with the traditional design from around 100 years ago. There are built in shelves ,drawers and a cupboard for your clothes. There are reading lights above each bed and a great view down the garden from the large window making the room bright and cool in the hot summer nights. All the blankets and rugs are locally woven and from Breb. There is a radiator to heat the room in winter if you have not lit a fire in the wood burner directly below the bedroom.
The House that Penny Built (Part 1) 10 minute video showing what Penny got up to in 2010 when she started renovated Casa Mica and the problem she had getting things done the way she wanted.
The House that Penny Built (Part 2) We pick up the story in May 2011 and follow Penny's adventures through to our first guests arriving. Did she get it all done? If you want to watch this video, I suggest you make a cup of tea and watch it like your watching a TV program; as it is over an hour long :)
The bathroom is opposite the bedroom,upstairs.Hand built oak cupboards and shelves provide plenty of places to leave towels , cosmetics etc.
The water supply which comes directly from the mountain springs hundreds of meters about the village, is very high pressure so gives us a 'power shower 'without the pumps., very eco and more importantly, still works when the electric goes off in the village:)
You will find towels, shower gels and soaps already here and a hairdryer. There is an iron and ironing board and Claudia will do all your ironing for you if your briber her in the right way, or just ask nicely.
We should mention too,if you need clothes washing, we can provide a laundry service.
You will be welcomed by our neighbors during your stay.Pop in and see how they live their harvest in the summer, milk the cows in the evening and get the loom out for weaving in the winter. People you meet in the village are really friendly and all you need to know is how to say 'Boona, che fach?(hello ,how are you? ) They will smile and spend the next five minutes telling you exactly how they are and want to know all about you.
There is one full time bar in the village,where everyone goes on sundays after church,which also sells a few stores. There are other shops and bars around the village but they are hidden away in peoples houses, look out for gas bottles outside or a table and bench where workers drop in for a beer at lunchtime and let the pub crawl begin.
What ever you want to do when staying in Breb, if your on a romantic weekend away or fancy a bit of luxury on your travels, we hope you will enjoy our hospitality and what Penny, Maria and Nicu have created over the last two years.
If you want to make an enquiry for Casa Mic please check the availability first and then use the villa direct booking form to contact us with your questions. We look forward to meeting you in Breb.
Casa Mic 
