BURGHER HOUSE NO. 3
The so-called drive-through burgher house no. 3 stands on the corner of the east side of the SNP Square. Its L-shaped floor plan continues to Nádražná Street. The exact period of its construction is unknown, but according to some architectural elements and the basic layout, we can assume that it was built at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries – at the time of the town’s greatest commercial boom. It is not unlikely that its builders used some of the existing structures of an older medieval building. The stone cellar with a barrel vault is believed to originate from this period.
The burgher house has undergone several major building modifications during its existence. Every owner and every historical period has left its mark on its appearance and internal disposition. This allegedly brick or wooden ground floor building of a simple rectangular shape from the second half of the 18th century was extended by a farm courtyard area and a floor and its facade was given Baroque features. On the ground floor there used to be commercial establishments accessible directly from the square and the first floor was used for residential purposes. The courtyard extension had a gabled roof with no floors. Further construction of the house took place in the middle of the 19th century and was probably related to a fire that destroyed a large part of the town. The staircase in the drive-through part was removed and the facade was given a more austere Classicist expression. The current disposition and overall external appearance of the building is the result of several modifications during the 20th century which resulted from the period requirements of the owners for its use and operation. In the interwar period the owners of the house (the well-known Jančovič family of Rajec) used to live in the attic of the courtyard extension where a wooden rustic porch was built. In 2015 the courtyard area was added a new extension with an underpass. A little later some windows were replaced and part of the front and side facade was insulated. Within its last modification a simple smooth chambranle was made around the windows and the plaster of the ground floor was decorated with strips of bossage.
The ground floor and first floor have a three-wing layout with a corridor and a staircase in the middle wing. The underpass with barrel vaults and lunettes is situated very close to the house. Today, its original function is visually suppressed by a newer wooden window-case with an entrance. A similar window-case can be found in the middle part of the front facade. The upper floors were used for residential purposes. They have a wooden beamed ceiling with an upper folded flap and a barrel vault with lunettes. The middle wing has a flat ceiling and its representativeness is emphasized by a stencil decorative painting from the end of the 19th century. Several interesting artistic and craft elements can be found there, for example a wooden coffered door and some window openings with decorative sash profiles probably originating from the Classicist reconstruction of the house.
The burgher house no. 3 is an important illustration of contemporary architecture and its regional stylistic changes. It is an important part of the town’s historical urbanism which is characterized by an almost square-shaped square with a network of streets. The building has preserved a number of authentic architectural, artistic and craft details and elements. It belongs to the one of the most valuable buildings in the entire monument zone of Rajec. It was declared a national cultural monument in 2019.