HALF-BURIED RĂPCIUNI, Neamț county, sec. the nineteenth
Built during the first half of the 19th century, Vasile Popa’s cottage from Răpciuni is a small dwelling of an ancient type, transferred in the museum in 1957 from a village situated at the base of Ceahlău Massif. The provenance region is rich in forests and pasturelands, the villagers' occupations being animal husbandry and forest working.
The house architecture is simple, with an open veranda on two sides and walls made of unfinished fir beams, affixed in round joints. The steep hip roof, with large eaves that protect the veranda, is made of long shingles in two layers. It has a single room with plastered and whitewashed walls, the ceiling being made of fir planks, with apparent beams. The hearth oven draws one’s attention, as all the other furniture items are arranged related to it: the bed, the dowry chest, the bench, the round tables, and the corner cupboard.
Next to the house is a conic shack built out of resinous wood. It was frequently used as a seasonal shelter by shepherds, forest workers or householders, when they gathered hay during the summer from land further from the village. Some dwellers used it also as a summer kitchen, close to the house, as it can be seen also in the museum.
The entrance in the household enclosed by the split-rail (“răslogi”) fence is done through a stile.