The site contains one of the most characteristic residential house types in Slovakia — a compact 10 × 10 meter square house placed on a 1.5-meter-high plinth. This typology still defines many villages today, forming continuous streetscapes that gradually replaced older rural structures during the second half of the 20th century. Finding such houses in their original state has become increasingly rare, as many have been extensively altered or demolished, resulting in a gradual loss of the streets’ architectural character.

The original house, inherited from the parents, no longer met contemporary spatial requirements. Rather than demolishing it or radically transforming it to accommodate new functions, the design strategy was to preserve the house as part of the street’s identity and to locate the required additional capacity behind it — following the historically natural logic of longitudinal extensions. The existing house will undergo a sensitive renovation in the future and continue to serve as a guest house.

The addition of a new volume allows the programmatic requirements to be fulfilled without compromise, while maintaining respect for the original settlement structure. In its layout and massing, the new house refers to traditional single-storey longitudinal houses with a covered porch (gánok). The familiar architectural language is not reproduced literally but reinterpreted through subtle references.

The simple floor plan maximizes the relationship with the garden, views, and an extensive covered terrace wrapping around the house. The central element of the living area is a skylight, symbolically emphasizing the main communal space where family and friends gather. Beyond its spatial role, the skylight provides daylight even when summer shading is required and supports natural ventilation through the stack effect.

A portion of the attic is habitable and accessed via a concealed staircase intended for guests, while the overall figure of the house remains single-storey — preserving the characteristic scale of the original typology.

The site and the relationship between the old and new houses are conceived as a gradual process rather than a fixed composition. Future additions may include a pergola connecting the two buildings or a car shelter, with their extent determined by the actual needs of the inhabitants. This approach allows the garden to develop a sequence of diverse atmospheres — from the most private zone beneath the pergola between the houses to an open, lush productive garden at the far end of the plot.