A House Built of Beams
and Patience
The name Greda is no coincidence. Greda means beam, and this old Lika house is quite literally built of them: oak beams form its base, while fir beams carry the upper floor. The ground floor is enclosed by stone walls and the upper floor by solid timber logs, just as houses were built in Lika when they were meant to last. Each of these beams is a quiet witness to a family story.
The Roots: Stone, Distance and Loyalty
Almost a hundred years ago, in 1932, Marta and Joso (Joseph) Šaban began building this house in the historic village of Lički Novi. Theirs was a love tested by an ocean. Driven by the waves of emigration of the era, Joso left to work in the distant mines of Canada—travelling through the United States—and sent home what he earned, so that every stone and every timber could be bought. Meanwhile, in the rugged beauty of Lika, Marta raised their children on her own, oversaw the construction, and watched the house grow day by day. Together, they requested and secured the plot for the house from the local Asić family cooperative (zadruga), of which they were members. Joso never came back to live in it, but his strength remains built into every stone.
The Present: Hands That Brought the Wood Back to Life
For years the house stood in silence, as if waiting for someone to hear it again. Today it is home to Anita and Josip (Joseph). Skilled in working with wood, Josip restored the old beams with his own hands, one by one, until the house could breathe again. Anita took up the care of the house, just as Marta did in the first half of the twentieth century. Now, in the first half of the twenty-first, it is her turn.
And so the strength of the first Joso, who dreamed of this house from across the ocean, now meets the hands of Josip, who brought it back to life. The house joins them like a bridge between past and present.
Warmth of Home
1932 · Heritage
1932 · Heritage
