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(Architect’s site plan 2001)

15 July 2003

The Okna Project is a 128 year old farm house with two barns in Okna, Czech Republic, that I bought three years ago and I am presently renovating.

The goal is to have a rural location where martial artists can train at seminars in a fun and attractive setting, as well as a country house for my family and friends to enjoy.

It will eventually have at least one large dojo the size of a basketball court and a pension capable of housing at least thirty people comfortably.

The farm house is situated in a tiny country village on approximately 3.2 hectares of land 60 kilometers NNE of Prague, Czech Republic, in the small village of OKNA.

It is situated in beautiful countryside, consisting of rolling hills, forests and farmland less than 4 kms. from the Bezdez Castle ruins and 8 kms from the lake in Doksy, just off the secondary highway connecting Mlada Boleslav and Ceska Lipa.

The present state is complete chaos... well a somewhat orderly chaos...:-) About 20% of the rooms are renovated so far and the garden has been somewhat tamed, but there is still much to do.  I estimate it will be two to three years before the dojo is opened officially and perhaps longer before the pension is completed.

All essential services, heat, lights, electrical wiring, water, septic are in the process of being replaced.  First priority was to get the place sealed and to carve out one section that could be made livable.

The past year we have made great progress and now have one 1/4 of the second floor livable, with hot water lights, baths, a wood stove, a makeshift kitchen and new walls and ceilings... Not exactly fancy, but at least somewhat comfortable.

I hope to begin on the renovation of the dojo in stages, commencing late next Summer.

In the following pages I will be posting some pictures of the project and list updates as they occur, mostly for my family back home, but also for anyone else that is interested.