Lafchieva House is the only remaining three-storey Bulgarian house in traditional style from the Revival period. This interesting Revival house was built around the early 40s of the 19th century and is famous for its construction, which does not include a single nail or metal bracket. All fittings are carved from wood. The house is located on the main street of Dryanovo and is a listed building of national importance.
Nikola Gaynardzhiyata is the master-builder of the Lafchieva House. Because of its method of construction, the house is also known as “the house with no nails”. A little known fact is that it is not a single home, but two semi-detached homes, Lafchieva and Pereva Houses, connected through their roof and façade in an architectural composition.
Typical of the Renaissance style, each upper floor of the Lafchieva House slightly protrudes over the lower floor. The ground floor is designed for business – it consists of shops, warehouses and basements. Тhe house looks completely different from the inner court. Seen from there, it has two floors, made of stone and whitewashed façade, with a gallery and tall, rectangular carved wooden columns supporting the roof.
Lafchieva House (and the Pereva) impresses with its precise workmanship and elegant use of wood in the interior, as well as the perfect masonry, which at that time was typical of Dryanovo builders. Characteristic of the Lafchieva House (unlike the National Revival period houses of Tryavna) is its minimalistic decoration – small stylized rosettes diversify the doors of some of cupboards, and there is a carved “sun”on the ceiling of the dining room, characteristic of that period.
Internally, the house is decorated with furniture and household items that combine local craft production with the West European import furniture, especially fashionable in that era. Now, here you can see a permanent museum exhibition, which depicting the life, crafts, fabrics and clothing typical of wealthy Bulgarians from that period.
On the ground floor, there is a vintage photo studio, where tourists and residents of Dryanovo can be photographed dressed in traditional costumes of this region.
