13. century
House No. 20, where we have established our pension, is one of the very old bourgeois houses. The oldest part of the house – the cellars – dates back to the second half of the 13th century. Originally, the house also included fields around the city. According to the oldest surviving records in the Town Urbarium related to our house, the house was bought in 1543 by the butcher Holoubek, who also farmed the fields purchased with the house. At that time, the house also included a farm with a barn and warehouses in the back tract. Today, this area is a courtyard garden with an atelier.
16. - 17. century
Over the centuries, the house frequently changed owners. In 1563, it was bought by the wealthy townsman Picka, who sold it in 1576 to the baker Kára. For nearly a hundred years, the house passed through inheritance. In 1634, the house was looted by Wallenstein’s army and remained empty until 1650. It was then bought by Jiřík Pokorný and his wife Salomena, who moved to Telč from nearby Mrákotín. Under their ownership, the house burned down again in 1655 and fell into disrepair, so the next owner, Jan Vanauch, had to almost completely rebuild it. Only the original cellars were usable.
Subsequent owners
Subsequent owners renovated, expanded, and altered the house. They operated various crafts and trades here. The house often served as a store, linen manufacturing, butchery with bakery, laundry, and again linen manufacturing. At one time, the house also had brewing rights, and beer was brewed here. Before World War II, the last owner sold linen, fabrics, textiles, and haberdashery. Unfortunately, the Jewish owners did not survive the end of World War II.
After the war
The house was confiscated by the Nazis and after the war became the property of the Czechoslovak state. After 1948, the communist regime took over, and the house gradually deteriorated. In the mid-1990s, we bought the heavily dilapidated house from the town, conducted a detailed historical survey, and thoroughly and expensively restored it. We established our hotel-pension here.
