Moving by myself to an old house I inherited was the charm of 1999. It’s located on a slope just above Baš?aršija, the old part of Sarajevo. It’s a treasure to me, and I am pleased to invite a newcomer to understand something of this city and its history.

This is the house my grandfather started to build in 1920. He selected the site because the area was thought to have the purest air. The ground floor, where I live, is the first part he completed. There’s a small garden with tall lilac bushes, an old cherry tree, and lawn he planted. In spring, the lilacs blossom purple and the cherry blossoms white. A fence protects this little paradise.

He continued building the house in around 1935 by adding apartments in two floors above. The apartment on the middle floor is a little bigger than mine with two rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The third floor apartment is just like the one below except for its huge terrace. When my grandparents lived there, it was always full of flowers which bloomed with springtime and which flourished by summertime. In view from there is Mount Trebevi?, architecture from the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian periods, and small houses with red roofs on the nearby hills.

After so many years, it’s as if this house has a soul. It has overheard many different human dreams. It has witnessed many human loves and hates. When I close my eyes, she tells me about those different eras. She is a brave house.

To one side of my house are impersonal six-floor modern apartment buildings. To the other side are her old friends, small houses that she shares a past with and which shelter our mahala. A mahala cannot be seen. It must be felt. It is neighborliness, the care and coffee we have shared together.

The sun caresses my house all year around except during the fog of winter. When it snows, it becomes a dwelling for dreams. I light a fire in her solid hearth.

Home is the most precious place on earth for me, especially when it is given from generation to generation. It is always a joy to welcome family, friends, and visitors to it.