Furniture for the restored Libušín is produced by a company from the Kroměříž region

Kroměříž - Chairs, tables, benches, a sideboard or taps and other parts of the interior are being manufactured for the restored Libušín at Pustevny in the Beskids by the company FIALA Stolařství from Podhradní Lhota in the Kroměříž region. The cottage, built in 1899 according to the design of architect Dušan Jurkovič, burned down on the night of March 2 to 3, 2014. The Wallachian Open Air Museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, which manages the monument, then decided to restore the building.

"The uniqueness of Libušín lies in the fact that it uses production technologies and manufacturing processes as they were common more than a hundred years ago. That's the most fundamental aspect of the entire project, to ensure that the result is as authentic and credible as possible," said Erik Fiala, co-owner of FIALA Stolařství, to ČTK today.

The furniture for Libušín is therefore made by hand. "It has a completely different character, all surfaces are hand-planed, and it has its charm. The work involved is completely different from A to Z; it cannot be compared to what is usually done," Fiala noted. For example, according to him, a table top can be planed on a machine in half an hour. "If you plane it by hand, you'll spend an entire day on that top," Fiala mentioned. Thus, the approach must be entirely different, using a complete set of planers, for instance.

The company will produce about 70 chairs, in two types, one for the main dining room of Libušín and the other for the extension of Parma. The difference between them is also in color; in the Parma extension, the chairs will be in a natural shade, while in the main dining room, they are in a blue-green-gray color. Linseed oil-based paints, which were available at the time the monument was constructed, are being used. Finding the right shade was challenging as well. "One layer was applied, then another, and it was checked whether the shade was really correct," Fiala explained.

There will be about 20 tables, with built-in benches along the walls. "Everything is made from fir, which was the most accessible at that time," Fiala stated. The actual furniture production began last September. "We are now in the phase of finishing the surface treatment on the chairs, and the tables are in the pre-surface treatment stage. We still have benches and a sideboard ahead of us," Fiala mentioned. The furniture is expected to be installed in Libušín in April. Libušín could open to the public before the summer visitor season; construction began in the summer of 2017.

The company quite often manufactures for heritage sites, having made windows for several of them, for example. However, according to Fiala, the work on the furniture for Libušín is exceptional. "It is an honor," he stated.

The restoration of Libušín is expected to cost 100 million crowns. The object will have slightly different colors and will return to its form in 1925 when all its parts were completed.