Some time ago we wrote about stone facades. Well, it turned out needless to travel all the way to Switzerland or China to find a contemporary stone house.

This one was very close, we came across it in a small Sofia village at the foot of the Balkan Mountain. It’s still under construction and seems a bit awkward and unrefined. But don’t let photos mislead you. One can tell a nice house from its construction site.

We liked the house for several reasons:

The location

The house is on a hill. It’s visible from very far away. The house is surprising, which is very cool. We are sure the locals have already nicknamed it — e.g. the citadel or the power station.

The shape

In fact we like citadels. Especially when it’s a contemporary version of a citadel. Here for example the northern wall is tilted and window frames are either huge and simple or small and in composition.

The materials

The walls struck us. All of them are made of concrete. The stone masonry from the outside is from old stones, obviously picked up from the ruins of a demolished house or windmill and reused.

It’s interesting how they will deal with the window frame detail.

Now this is a house to look after for the next generations. With so much concrete and stone it will last even if the hill is washed away. It will survive both architectural whimsies and natural disasters. Agree?