The repopulation of the town began in 1722. From Gömör, Árva, and Trencsény Counties; from Békéscsaba Slovakians moved in. The population that originated from different areas soon homogenized. Though their languages are still spoken by the elderly, their culture was influenced by the population of the Great Hungarian Plain. This process was fastened by the work of Sámuel Tessedik (1742-1820). The reforms he introduced extended in all fields of the vernacular life. The culture of Szarvas differs from that of the Slovakian population.

The Country House of Szarvas was built in 1885 according to the date on the pediment. The owner Gajdos family belonged to the well off population; they had a homestead at the Sirató area.

The building was a typical example of the farming houses at the end of the 19th century. It was built of unburnt brick; the roofing was made of wood shipped down the Kőrös, and was covered with cane. The setting followed the room-kitchen-room-inner chamber pattern. The wide frontage faced the street.

In the backyard of the Gajdos house a barn stood where the horses were kept when on market days the family came to town from the village. The house had been rebuilt several times, but when we renovated it, the state it was in around the 1900s was restored. The chimney, the bench in the kitchen, and the furnace in the front room had been removed decades before so they also had to be reconstructed. Original looking windows were placed in the walls and the porch was created according to its original looks.

The front rooms in the farming houses in Szarvas were generally not used; it was the 'clean room'. The room in the back of the house was occupied, the chamber, where the food was kept, opened from here as well. The chamber in the back served as a container of crops as well as the unused equipments. The furnishing of the country house is in accordance with its original function.

The furniture in the first room is richer, especially the beds and the bench. The furniture of Szarvas is less ornamented than those of the Slovakian population.

The mouths of two furnaces opened in the back of the kitchen. The 'kutka' where the ember was scooped, and where cooking was done, is in one of the back corners.

The furnishing of the back room, since that was the living room, is less ornamented. The weaving loom was placed here too.

In the inner chamber the bacon, flower, smoked meat and those tools were kept that were not used.

The sons of the master changed in the outer chamber, where the crop and the larger equipments were kept.

The original painting of the walls is restored in the country house, except in the chamber, where the original painting is untouched.

The textiles are emphatic: all kinds of embroidery and weaving are present in Szarvas. The range of motifs grew with the arrival of the new ethnic groups. A characteristic mixture of motifs came to existence which is well represented by the material of the exhibition.

Iván Balassa M.