Fabó Beáta - Gall, Anthony: I came from the East to a City of Great Palaces. Károly Kós, the early years 1907-1914 (Budapest, 2013)

Kós' First Steps as an Independent Architect

From crow castle to crow farm

‘...and these old-fashioned, laughingly aristocratic townly gentlemen must have stuck the label Crow Castle on my little cottage for sheer mockery. But they failed to annoy me - moreover, I got to like the name and found it fitting so our house is called Crow Castle to this day! (The name is written on a preliminary sketch of the house already...ed.)

’And suddenly the air was filled with loud talk by city people. These new peoplefrom the city were cruel and tactless. They robbed me. They stole my silence, the quiet of the forest and the perfume of the meadows. They stole my air, my peace. Springs in blossom, the sad and colourful beauty of autumn days and the sparkling cleanness of frosty winter days. They took it all away and I was helpless against them. I could do nothing I was a helpless plaything of the city, which I had left behind to come here. Nobody could save me, nobody could take mercy on me. I could not be reconciled to this fate so I left them Crow Castle, their loot, and I ran away!KOS Tanya21~23-The growing family - expanding Crow Castle

Crow Castle was originally intended to become Kos' holiday house and consisted of four rooms: downstairs a kitchen with a small pantry and a living room, upstairs a bedroom and a study (or children's room). By 1925 the house had become far too small for a family of six - including a father who worked from home, three sons (13, 11 and 6 years of age at the time) and a daughter (9). So in 1925 they expanded it towards the hillside, adding one room downstairs and one upstairs. From the window of the new upstairs room it was easy to climb straight onto the hillside - much to the pleasure of the children.

In the mid-1930's Kós built a separate studio building on the slope above Crow Castle, the so-called CrowFarm (Varjútanya). It was built with a small watchtower at its core. The tower had been built earlier by Kós around 1930 and was the focal point of his farm in Sztána/Stana. The farm was destroyed in 1944, but its ruins can still be seen. In 1944 the family escaped to Kolozsvár/Cluj. The belongings they left behind were disappeared, hardly anything survived. After some time the family recovered Crow Castle, but had to lose it again because of new regulations under Socialism. The family purchased the building back in the 1960’s and today the building remains the property of Kós' family.

HI Crow Castle

Testamentum és agrikultura, 1915

H Kós wrote Testamentum és agrikultura (Testament and Agriculture, 1915) in Crow Castle, whilst the Könyv a lovakról was written at Crow Farm (Book about Horses, 1938)

Watercolour of Crow Farm

Könyv a lovakról, 1938 private collection

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