At Ulica zmage 12, the Idrija miners’ house Giser stands on a locally well-known hill between Skirca and Jurčkova grapa. The precise year this apartment building was built is not known; based on preserved sources and literature, however, we can establish that it has at least two centuries of history.
The building has changed over the years, as each generation and historical period has given it its own unique character. The house is partly dug in and leaning into the hill with a stone base, above which a wooden superstructure rises up. The gabled roof, which was probably originally covered with shingles, is now covered with a newer concrete roofing, and the original subdued whiteness of a typical mining house is revealed under the ochre layers of the present plaster, harmoniously complemented by symmetrical rows of small double-casement windows. The mining character of the building is complemented by the classic attributes of podiček, a small raised platform in front of the main entrance at the side of the building, and the gank, a covered external corridor down which flowering roses still climb from the ornamental garden below.
Inside, the Giser House also reflects traditional living patterns. It reveals a typical arrangement of rooms, with a steep staircase to the first floor, the kitchen, and the main room – hiša with an accompanying small chamber – arranged around the doorway. The typical layout is repeated on the first floor in a slightly less spacious form. The house furnishings suggest a gradual development of the house inventory, following the general evolution of living standards. From the simpler original 19th-century chests of drawers and trunks to the more modern veneered furniture of the post-World War II era, the furniture in the Giser House tells the story of two centuries of continuous living in this building.
