Trade the bustle of city life for a few slow days of oak, water and open fields.
Ten miles from the baroque spires of Varaždin, Old Oak House is a four-bedroom cottage rooted in the soil of rural Maruševec. Come for a quiet week, or pause here for two or three nights on the drive down to the Dalmatian coast.
Pool, tennis court, outdoor kitchen and meadow — all within a few strides of your door.
Downstairs boasts two bedrooms; Bednja to the left with a double bed and lounging area with an en-suite shower room, kitchen and stairs to two bedrooms, Dobra and Sava. From the porch to the right is Drava suite with kitchenette and shower room.
The Pool
Full access to the owner's swimming pool, set among the garden greenery a short walk from your door.
The Courts
A private tennis court is available to use with the owner's compliments. There's a basketball court too. Rackets and balls are provided on request.
The Outdoor Kitchen
A covered outdoor kitchen and dining area with a traditional BBQ and provided firewood — cook, eat and linger outside long into the evening.
The Meadow
A wide grassy meadow for games and picnics, with space for children and pets to roam freely.
A jigsaw of oak,
rebuilt by hand.
The cottage once stood in a Serbian village that was abandoned during the Balkan war, its oak frame left to weather and wait.
Amanda Witcher bought it, and every beam was numbered, dismantled like a giant puzzle and carried 100 miles to Maruševec, where it was slotted back together.
Descendants of the original owners were invited to the opening of the rebuilt stara kuća. The history continued — a new place, but still a house full of parents and children living the rural Croatian life.
