Juodpurviai

This is a restoration project of a 130 year old traditional Lithuanian homestead and landscape. I am the owner, landscape architect, unofficial architect/ interior designer for this project. So far majority of the work has been completed by me and my 70 year old parents.
Juodpurviai encompasses a traditional timber log farmhouse, a granary, three barns, a sauna building, all set within 1 hectare of land and 2no 100 year old orchards.

Having left Lithuania at the age of 17 this project was the force that brought me back. I am a foreigner in my own country having been away for 25 years, so this project is a full on cultural, spiritual and physical immersion.

It is a story of hope in the time of the pandemic, a return to the land of my grandmothers, a return to my origins - countryside of Lithuania. It is about changing ways of living and working and re-uniting back with the land.

This is an ongoing restoration project, a slow process of renovating the buildings and reviving the surrounding landscape. Using traditional methods, local knowledge, lithuanian craftspeople, Juodpurviai is slowly waking up.

My hope is that it will serve as a sanctuary not only for me but also for those looking to share ideas, to bring together artisans from around the world, to allow to pause.
An homage to my ancestry.