Qamil Vuçitërna’s Tower House, Rahovec

The house of Qamil Vuçitërna is located in the old center of Rahovec. It is believed to have been built at the end of the 19th century. From the time it was built until a few years ago it was inhabited.
The house is located on a steep rocky terrain, and its spatial organization has been adapted to the configuration of the terrain. It has an irregular quadrilateral plan, built with a ground floor and an upper floor. The ground floor was used for economic functions, for storing and preparing food, while the upper floor served for living.
The eastern and southern facades border other residential buildings, while the western facade faces the street. These facades have a simple linear treatment without any decoration. The front facade, the northern one, which faces the inner courtyard, has a more distinctive treatment.
The walls on the ground floor are built of carved stones in rectangular form, reinforced with wooden beams, creating horizontal bands. The walls on the upper floor are built of baked earth bricks – qerpiç (adobe).
The roof is hipped, originally covered with stone slabs, while in the mid-20th century it was covered with corrugated sheets – “sallon”.
In the interior of the house some original traditional elements have been preserved, characterized by a high level of woodcarving. Among the interior elements, worth highlighting are the old wooden stairs and the wooden ceilings made in the “shishe tavan” style.
Alongside the woodcarving, the stonework has also been treated at a high artistic level. Of note here are the carved stones used in the structure of the ground floor walls, and the stone door with an arched opening on the front facade.
Over the years the building has undergone numerous transformations to adapt to the needs of modern life. The windows on the front facade used to have a frame made of stone, but have now been replaced with windows with wooden frames.
The proportions of the building, the prominent front facade, the materials and the construction technique represent the main characteristics of this tower house (kulla-house).