The Traditional House from Șimon, Brașov County

The building has two levels: a solid ground floor made of river stone with a two-room cellar underneath, and an upper level made of horizontal wooden beams where daily life once unfolded.

The six rooms — the great room, the everyday room, the chelar (kitchen), the hallway, the pantry and the stable — reflect the traditional layout of a mountain household, with Baroque and urban influences evident throughout.

Baroque decorative elements, such as the fretwork on the trapezoidal gable and the elegant porch, reveal the owners' refined taste. The high, profiled-tile roof recalls the urban influences that began to reach deeper into the rural world of Transylvania at the turn of the 20th century.

The first owners of the house were Neculae and Maria Cojocaru.
After losing her first child, Maria travelled to Bucharest, where she worked as a nanny for wealthy families for four years. Using her earnings, she returned to Şimon in 1903 and built this homestead. Over time, it became a witness to history, offering shelter to refugees from Bassarabia after the province was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.