Vice Stjepović-Skočibuha Summer Residence

The summer residence of Vice Stjepović-Skočibuha was constructed between February and December 1563. Vice Stjepović-Skočibuha, a distinguished Dubrovnik shipbuilder from the prominent Stjepović-Skočibuha family, commissioned the estate east of his father's castle. He decided to build the summer residence and fortified manor two years earlier due to family disagreements. The site chosen for its construction had previously served as a shipyard.

Building materials were transported from Kupari, while most of the stone used in the construction originated from the island of Korčula, with a smaller portion sourced locally.

The larger structure, built of finely dressed stone, is a single-storey residence intended for family living. A smaller house was constructed to accommodate the family's resident chaplain, forming the estate's main and auxiliary buildings. The chapel adjoining the southern side of the family residence was dedicated to St. Thomas, in memory of Vice's father, as stated in his will.

By the end of the 16th century, the fully completed complex comprised:

• the family residence,

• two three-storey defensive towers, built to protect against pirate attacks,

• front and rear gardens connected by a rectangular promenade,

• the Church of St. Thomas,

• loggias (glorijet),

• a mill,

• cisterns located within both the house and the tower,

• storage facilities,

• a terrace pavilion,

• a bridge, and

• a fortified entrance.

The residence preserves several exceptionally rare architectural features, including a Renaissance rectangular fireplacewith its original stucco-decorated hood, an extraordinary rarity in the Dubrovnik region; an elegant Renaissance stone washbasin with finely carved relief borders; and a remarkable example of the only surviving 16th-century wooden balcony (balatur above the staircase enclosure of the loggia) in the entire Mediterranean.

The estate embodies all the defining characteristics of Dubrovnik's Renaissance country-house architecture. It is the only completely preserved example of this type of aristocratic summer residence in Croatia.

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