Zăpode – Sheppards Cabana

The big views from the Sheppard Cabana at Zăpode

Zăpode has one of the best views. Its very open, very different to our land at  Lăcşoare .  It looks out right across to the Carpathians in the Ukraine to the left and  and over to Borsa on the right. The house is from Calanesti and the oak part of  is well over 100 years old. The pine ‘extension’ was built around 50 years ago.

I remember going into the house and finding it exactly the way it was the day the sellers grandmother had died. The wooden spoon encrusted into the pot still sitting on the stove. I felt pretty bad clearing out all her stuff and giving him all her personally belongings, but when I saw his face when we walked into the house all empty just before we took it down, I could see the relief on his face. He said something like ” I can now finally let her sole rest in peace” and walked out of the house shaking his head in relief.

We are slowly restoring Zăpode and want to get it back to as close as we can to how it was. The plan is to have an open kitchen in the hallway, a toilte to one side and a warm room to the right that will be well insulated for the winter. The roof room will be one big gallery for sleeping allowing up to 10 people. Below are pictures showing the interior just before we took the house down, as well as the outside.

I don’t believe in ghosts, but I do believe when we finally get the house finished and stay in it, we will be able to feel the woman who probably lived all her life in the house, fussing of the mess were making and the music playing from the iPod.

The house will be restored to cater for groups of hikers or people who want to get away form it all and stay up on the mountain for a few days to detox from city life. In the summer when it gets very hot, we sometime have huge thunderstorms. Sitting on the step of Zăpode watching the light show, bone dry with a glass of the Holinca in your hand is my dream for this location. It will be open all year round and have a wood burner and open fire place for those cold winter nights, great for a new years eve party for a gang of friends or total quite for someone writing a book. Maybe I will go there and finish my books.