The longhouse from Zalalövő presents the life of a poor peasant family living at the end of the 19th century. The uniqueness of the house lies in the fact that at the time of its purchase, not only the building itself was acquired, but also the original tiled stoves and many pieces of furniture, which makes the museum interior exceptionally authentic.
In the first room of the house lived the young married couple with their child, while the elderly parents lived in the second room. This room is connected to the pantry, the stable, and then the animal pens.
In the room, tools for an important winter activity – basket weaving – can be seen: men made baskets for household use, fruit dryers, and spoon holders themselves. Fences and gates were also made at home from wicker, while cart baskets and corn cribs were produced by craftsmen.
Courtyard of the Zalalövő Longhouse
Do you know what the original cast-iron pot looks like and why it was named that way? If not, look for it inside the longhouse and see it with your own eyes.
Gombosszeg Pantry
Next to the Zalalövő farmhouse stands a separate, thatched-roof pantry. In this weather-protected space, a painted winnowing sieve was stored. This hand-operated device was used to clean grain from chaff after threshing.
Previously, this task was carried out using a large straw sieve hung on the wall of the pantry. The chaff was removed partly by sifting the grain and then winnowing it. Winnowing was done by standing facing the wind and throwing the grain into the air from a shovel or pouring it from waist height to the ground; the wind then blew away the husks and light debris, leaving the valuable grain behind.
Hollow Well (Bodonkút)
In low-lying valleys where deep digging for water was unnecessary, so-called hollow wells were dug in farmyards. Instead of brick or stone lining, a thick, partially decayed tree trunk was used. The trunk was cut to the appropriate height, split in half, and its interior carefully smoothed.
The trunk was lowered into the well shaft using ropes and chains, and the gap between the wood and the well wall was filled with moss or soil. The above-ground part of the well was reinforced with iron hoops and sometimes even covered with a roof.
Wood Storage Shed
Opposite the kitchen stood one of the simplest yet most useful buildings: the wood storage shed. Firewood was stored under its slanted roof, and only enough wood for a few days was split at a time.
Pigsty from Hagyárosbörönd
The three-part pigsty was built at the end of the 19th century. It housed piglets, sows, and fattening pigs in separate sections.
Every rural household kept pigs, as the family’s annual meat supply and cooking fat were obtained from pork processing. Meat was preserved by smoking, salting, and stuffing into sausages. Lean meat was fried and stored in barrel-shaped fat containers, kept under lard. Bacon and ham were preserved by salting and smoking. Meat was also hung on beams in the attic for storage.
Kástu
This building type of Western European origin authentically represents the characteristic wooden, log-walled, shingle-roofed pantry of hilly regions.
The kástu is a two-storey wooden structure used for storing food, crops, and agricultural tools. It was also often used to store money and valuables, to which only the farmer and his wife had access.
Bee House from Zalalövő
At the end of the farmstead stands a beehouse similar to the one seen in the Kálócfa courtyard, with beehives placed on several shelves. Until the early 20th century, when sugar was still considered a luxury product, honey played a much more important role in households than it does today.
In Göcsej cuisine, honey was the only sweetener, so it was consumed on its own, spread on bread, or used to sweeten pastry fillings. Sugar was initially used only in very small quantities, mainly for major holidays. From the 1920s onward, sugar became more accessible, and villagers became familiar with city confectionery pastries filled with buttercream, which rural women also learned to prepare at home.
