Gril Homestead

Gril homestead holds the status of a cultural monument. The house was presumably built in the middle of the 19th century as a small winemaking house on a winegrowing slope of Lipje and Vinska Gora. At the end of the 19th century, the grapevine was removed due to the occurrence of phylloxera, whereas winemaking houses were transformed into homesteads for smaller farmers due to their small estates. During that time a commercial building was added to the house. There is a well, a small vegetable garden, a larger herb garden and a beehive next to the house. The house with a wine cellar is partially wooden and partially made of masonry. Above the cellar, there is the dwelling part of the house with hall, black kitchen and “štiblc”. Today, the Gril Homestead has been carefully renovated and transformed into an eco-museum.

The slope of Lipje and Vinska Gora used to be known for its vineyards and winemaking until the end of the 19th century. The geographic location is suitable too, because the slope is oriented towards the south and has appropriate angle of slope for wine growing. Despite its favourable location, the region was devastated by phylloxera at the end of the 19th century. It drove the vineyards out of these places and forced the inhabitants to restructure their farming activities.

The majority of inhabitants thus started dealing with agriculture and the production of fruit, some also did beekeeping. Due to the relatively small farming surfaces (initially the buildings in Lipje and Vinska Gora were mostly winemaking houses for the needs of smaller vineyards), homesteads of smaller farmers emerged here, where only a few heads of livestock were bred for their own needs. The families in this area did not have many members and they all had very little cultivated area and no or nearly no forest.

The Gril Homestead in Lipje pri Velenju has the status of a cultural monument of local importance. The homestead comprises of a house and a commercial building. There is a well next to the house, as well as a small vegetable garden where housewives used to grow vegetables for their own family. Today, a larger herb garden and a beehive have been set up as part of the homestead.

The house is pushed up the hill, built over a cellar, partially wooden and partially made of masonry. There is a lot of room intended for the cellar part, which also proves its initial purpose. The cellar ceiling is wooden and supported by a mighty oak beam which runs through the entire width of the house. Above the cellar, there is the dwelling part of the house with hall, black kitchen, “hiša” (house) and “štiblc”.

The homestead presents the development of a winehouse which was later transformed into a farm for a small farmer. The conversions are also visible on the exterior side of the buildings. Among the most interesting ones are the original window openings between the logs of the wooden part of the house (the initial sliding windows), which were closed up later on. Next to them, bigger and more modern window openings with windows were made. Another interesting detail of the house is the strong oak joist in the cellar, dating to the end of the 16th century, which gives the homestead a strong historical mark.