Fundata is the highest commune in Romania. From Saua Mare you can see four ranges on a clear day, and at night, more stars than feels reasonable in this part of Europe — there is not a streetlight within four kilometres. The cabin is timber-framed, triple-glazed, heated by a single wood-fired boiler. In winter you arrive by snowcat for the last kilometre.
The dark sky. Romania has some of the least light-polluted skies in Europe, and Fundata sits in a pocket where it is almost total — Bortle class 2. The lodge has a flat roof with a hot tub and two telescope mounts. Andrei keeps a battered copy of the Sky-Watcher manual in the kitchen drawer.
- ·Off-grid solar + wood boiler
- ·Hot tub
- ·Telescope mounts
- ·Snowcat winter transfer
- ·Pets welcome
- ·Hiking boot dryer
- ·Sauna
Andrei’s great-grandfather kept sheep on this saddle. The cabin replaced the family’s old summer stâna in 2020, designed by a friend from Bucharest with passive-house ambitions. Andrei still volunteers with mountain rescue every Saturday in winter — the radio sits on the kitchen shelf.
A few of the sights within easy reach of this house.
~9.2 km awayA 25-kilometre limestone arête south of Brașov — one of the great ridge walks of Europe.
~10 km awayThe castle the Dracula myth attached itself to — better visited at 9am than at noon.
~13 km awayEurope's largest brown bear sanctuary — 100+ bears rescued from circuses and roadside cages.
~22 km awayA peasants' citadel above a Saxon town — quieter than Bran, with a wider view.