Ștefan’s House

The story of the man and his house

This house belonged to Ștefan Berinde (18.01.1915 – 22.02.2000) known as Ștefan a lu’Feroaie in his native village Budești (neighboring Breb). Ștefan had three children, two girls and a boy, and his wife, whom he married on November 11,1940, was named Călina.

In the village he was known as a hardworking man, who worked in his youth for a short time in the Cavnic mine, but who especially liked animals. He had cows and sheep, but most of all he loved the twenty bee families he happily cared for. The whole village was supplied with bee honey from Ștefan a lu ’Feroaie. One of his daughters, who is still alive, remembers how her father, whom the family called moșu (meaning old grandfather), taught her to never waste food, not even bread crumbs. Moșu was born during the Great War and was almost 5 years old at the end of it, going through the great crisis of the 1930s and the Second World War, so he knew how much even a small piece of bread could mean. Regarding the war, the shutters he put on the windows, were not only to protect themselves from the cold in winter, but also to hide the light inside the house from the Russian army, which was known to enter households and take by force food and animals from the locals. In order not to lose the animals, they took them to relatives who lived near the forest, because Stefan’s house was right next to the road where the soldiers were passing and they had no other way to save them.

His wife, Călina, died at the age of only 55 in January 1973. After becoming a widower, he never remarried, remaining alone until his death at the age of 85.

Ștefan’s descendants were very happy when they found out that we had saved and restored his old wooden house and that their grandfather’s story remained alive for all those who will cross its threshold and stay for a few days. On behalf of them and our family from Casa Moroșenilor, we thank you for being our guests and we look forward to welcoming you again.