Spell-binding interiors transfix guests at this Czech retreat at the foot of the Western Carpathian Mountains by Daniela Hradilová, where light and shadow converge with old and new.

Mezi Lukami – meaning ‘between meadows’ in Czech – dates from the 19th century. The Moravian Wallachia structure was verging on ruin when Hradilová and her husband Peter Hradl decided to revive it as a ‘fifth room’ for the minimalist hotel they run nearby, Mezi Plutky.

The region’s architectural vernacular combines the pastoral and artisanal folk heritage of the area, imbued in the bones of the Czech holiday home, which sits in the Beskids nature reserve, Čeladná.

Master-masons and carpenters repaired and reconstructed the original 260 sq m wooden building and stone barn, transforming its former entrance hall into a large living room. Dark timber walls and heavily beamed ceilings recall the past, with picture windows framing views of the landscape and casting with an almost moody glow thanks to the roof’s deep eaves.

Hradilová has left a deliberately light thumbprint, outfitting its atmospheric spaces with simple, high-quality pieces and textiles in stone-like tones that balance the darker hues of the building’s skeleton and take cues from the landscape.

In a riposte to the moody attic, a glazed passage between the old house and the barn is now a dining room, where guests can sit ‘between the meadows’ beneath a glowing orb by designer Davide Groppi. Bedrooms similarly embrace the light with white-stained walls, exposed stone elements and beams.

Mezi Lukami sleeps four and is available to book via Holiday Architecture from €500 per night.

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