Straja household, Suceava county – 1760
Built in the second half of the 18th century, the villager Petre Ursaciuc’s house comes from the north of Moldavia, from Straja village, found on the valley of Suceava River. The area is one with vast pasturelands and forests; the inhabitants’ main occupations are animal husbandry and wood working.
The technique in which the house was built is an archaic one, with walls made of round pine beams, affixed at the ends with round joints, covered with a thin layer of soil and clay. The beam tails go way outside the walls, the upper ones cut in steps, creating a solid base for supporting the roof framework with a fir shingle covering. The house plan includes the cold foyer, without ceiling, followed by the pantry, both destined to store household tools, as well as a living room. The entrance in the house is made directly from the wide veranda (which is open, without pillars, protected by the tails of the lateral wall logs), where one can find a hand-mill and a bench.
Inside, a special place is taken by the oven with hearth and sleeping space, surrounded by the objects used in food preparation. Among the furniture, highlights are the console bed attached to the joist through a carved pole, the thick wooden benches affixed on the walls, the dowry chests, the high table and the dish cabinet with painted and glazed ceramic plates of Kuty type. Numerous wool fabrics in warm tones, with geometric motifs, adorn the bed, the benches and the walls. The summer beam is covered by a special fabric called “grindar”. The decor is complemented by a frieze made of rows of embroidered pillows, clothes and sheepskin coats placed on the “little beam”. In high regard, on the large beam, next to the small barrels for traditional brandy, is hanged “păscărița”, the vessel in which the head of the family carries to the church the painted eggs and the Easter cake, on the Great Vigil of Easter.
