Ostrov household, Constanţa county, sec. XIX
Originating from the Danube bank, the villager Marin Câinoiu's household from Ostrov was transferred in the museum in 1959, as representative for the Romanian rural architecture from the 19th century Dobroudja. Both the household annexes and the inventory objects illustrate the main occupations of the inhabitants in the area: viticulture, fishing, agriculture, beekeeping, and animal husbandry.
The assembly includes the house, the bread oven and the granary. The house has an elongated plan and is raised on a base of clay mixed with chopped straws. The walls are made of hornbeam wattle and daub on oak forks. The mild hipped roof is covered in pantiles. On the main façade, the low veranda with beautifully shaped pillars and capitals, painted in red, constitutes the main decoration element.
In the foyer, one can note the two open hearths with chimney that shelter also the mouths of the “blind” stoves from the adjoining rooms. In each room there are low beds made from adobe. The interior of the living rooms is singularized by the richness, variety and beauty of the fabrics made of wool, raw silk and cotton (wall towels, table cloths, bed clothes, curtains). Among these, one can note the compositions with “wading birds”, “horsemen”, “women with parasols”, “women knitting” etc.
In the awning, we note the two "hogeacs" (free hearths with a chimney) that also house the fire mouths of the "blind" stoves in the adjacent rooms. In each of the rooms there are low adobe beds. The interior of the living rooms is individualized by the richness, variety and beauty of woolen, borangic and cotton fabrics (wall cloths, tablecloths, sheets, curtains). Among them, the compositions with "pond birds", "riders", "women with umbrellas", "crocheting women", etc. are notable.
Several household objects prove coexistence of the Romanians with the Turk, Tatar and Bulgarian minorities: “sinia” (a low small table, in the shape of an upside-down hat), “bracace” (small buckets), pans, frying pans with lids, trays, servers, copper pails, etc.
