For Czech architect Pavel Prouza, restoring a run-down building with historic value was a childhood dream nurtured during family tours of old monuments.
Next month, he will receive a major European heritage award in Venice for having renovated a sprawling derelict brewery on the brink of total destruction.
The Renaissance-era site in Lobeč, a village north of Prague, is now producing beer again after architect and his wife sank all their money into the high-risk investment.
With an annual output of almost 100,000 litres of beer, the brewery looks set to thrive in the country known for its love of the tipple.
Several hundred years old, the brewery produced over a million litres of beer a year during its heyday in the early 20th century.
It flourished until World War II but was nationalised when the Communists took power and turned into a produce warehouse, tractor garage, workshops and flats.
Falling into disrepair, the site changed hands several times post-communism, its owners using it for construction material. Squatters finished the job, burning up the floor planks and treating some of the premises as a toilet.
Using their savings, bank loans and subsidies from local authorities and the EU, the couple began to renovate.
Looking for a game-changing investment, they decided to sell their flat in Prague and move to Lobec in 2014. A year later, they finally opened the brewery and restaurant.
Their master brewer – a local enthusiast – produces the standard bottom-fermented lager, but also ales, stouts and even gruit beer seasoned with herbs grown in the village garden.
Vesnice Lobeč, with 140 inhabitants, has revived significantly thanks to the restoration of the brewery, which is also part of the European Industrial Heritage Trail. It attracts the interest of tourists from Czechia and around the world.
In the village, which is located in the Kokořínsko Protected Landscape Area, travellers can also visit the local castle. It is managed by a family business.
Subscribe for our daily news 