After the war, Nemilkov Castle fell to the state and served as a national committee, library, and chamomile drying room, so the structure itself remained intact, but the legacy of socialist administration is unmistakable. The door and window frames are riddled with ten-centimeter-long nails, piles of unused bricks lie in the cellars and attics, and the asphalt-covered courtyard has risen by thirty centimeters, causing water to flow against the buildings. We are now faced with the decision of whether and how to restore the courtyard to its 19th-century appearance.

Winter romance? Forget it. At Nemilkov, we measured zero degrees in the living room, and the only warmth was within a meter of the tiled stove, where the temperature rose to 13–18 °C. To survive, we need snow boots, woolen hats, ski gloves, and layers of clothing even when going out into the hallway. We sleep in hats under several blankets, and a nighttime trip to the bathroom resembles a cryosauna. The irony is that despite the cold, it is easy to burn yourself, because all hygiene and changing takes place right next to the stove – that's why we welcome spring with enthusiasm, even though it is still winter inside the castle.

After watching the TV show, you would expect a small building, but Nemilkov Castle turned out to be a labyrinth of rooms full of junk, where we initially got lost. A family cleaning session revealed chaos, a lack of tools, and led us to principles such as "finish what you start, never go empty-handed, and don't move around this house without a flashlight." And when, despite Markéta's advice, I set about repairing the roof, it ended with an escape from a swarm of wasps and another lesson that improvisation has its limits.

From swimming pools, I found myself in the ruins of Nemilkov – instead of clean, warm halls, I now inhabit dark, cold chambers full of insects and mice. In the summer of 2016, after years of searching, we bought a dilapidated castle and courtyard, and since then we have been clearing out years of clutter, removing inappropriate structural alterations, and collecting every remnant of history we can find. A long and demanding restoration awaits us, but our goal is to save this cultural monument and one day remove it from the list of endangered buildings.