Main building

Vukov Konak, Wolf Inn, main building is over a 100 years old log house traditional to the region. It’s a fairytale house with dimly lit corners, old ornaments, sheep skins, candles, and books.

It is situated just outside the village Vučja Luka, Wolf Haven, in Bosnia, only 18 km from downtown Sarajevo. The house is surrounded by deep, dark green forests, peaceful meadows, and cattle grazing areas on a mountain, 1300 meters above sea level.

In the modern form the house is on three levels:
Restaurant and sitting area with a fire place, kitchen, and toilets and bathrooms on the ground floor
1st floor with three sleeping rooms for guests, a room for personnel and a storage room
2nd floor with one sleeping room for guests, the Wolves in Love

The house is heated with wood only, kitchen stove serving as central heating and a big fire place in the sitting area adding the warmth. During winter months we heat the house daily to keep the warmth in, and in the summer it stays wonderfully cool, thanks to the stone flooring on the ground level.

The house was moved to its current plot in 2009 from the original site, some five kilometers from here, on a nearby mountain. Before it got a new life as Vukov Konak guesthouse, it was the home of a family. The upper floors did not exist in the original construction, but hay, grains, and meat etc. were dried high up on the ceiling. The house had been abandoned years ago, but luckily it had stayed in excellent condition.

The Legend of the Wolves and the Name

The village Vučja Luka translates as “Wolf Haven,” and the surrounding mountains have been home to grey wolves for centuries. The guesthouse, Vukov Konak or Wolf Inn, carries this legacy in its name and spirit. Local elders recall a story from the late 19th century: a shepherd found an injured wolf pup near the original site of the house. He nursed it back to health, and the wolf, upon release, returned with its pack each winter to howl safely around the homestead. The family living in the log house never feared the wolves, believing the pack warded off other dangers, and the house became known as a place where wolves and humans lived in a wary but respectful truce.

Today the inn still honours that bond. The top‑floor sleeping room, “Wolves in Love,” features hand‑carved wolf motifs on the bedposts and a large window facing the forest edge. On clear nights, guests often hear the distant chorus of a wolf pack, and the sound, rather than unsettling, feels like a wild lullaby. A subtle wolf paw print is stamped into the threshold of the front door, and the hosts will tell you that a wolf sighting during your stay brings good fortune. Many who visit leave a small offering of dried meat at the edge of the meadow – not to feed the animals, but as a quiet gesture of respect for the canny, elusive neighbours that share this mountain.

Culinary Delights at the Hearth

Meals at Vukov Konak are a celebration of mountain hearth cooking. The kitchen revolves around a cast‑iron wood‑fired stove, the same that heats the entire house. The scent of smouldering beechwood mingles with the aroma of freshly baked bread, wild herbs, and slow‑simmering stews. Nearly everything served comes from the immediate surroundings: wild mushrooms gathered in the autumn beech forests, nettles and sorrel picked in spring, thick yoghurt and kajmak from a neighbouring shepherd, and honey from hives hidden in a clearing nearby. The dining table, set with heavy earthenware and linen, is lit by beeswax candles that cast wavering shadows on the log walls.

Evening meals are a drawn‑out affair, with three or four courses that revive old Bosnian recipes. A typical menu might include:

• Sarajevski sač – veal, carrots, and onions baked slowly under a domed iron lid until meltingly tender.
• Krompiruša – thin layers of hand‑rolled pastry filled with potato and onion, served with sour cream.
• Jagnjetina ispod peke – lamb roasted with rosemary and garlic in the outdoor stone oven.
• Lovački gulaš – hunter’s stew rich with boar meat, paprika, and forest mushrooms.
• Tufahije – poached apples stuffed with walnuts and whipped cream, a sweet finish from Sarajevo’s Ottoman tradition.

Guests are welcomed with a glass of domaća rakija – homemade plum or quince brandy – and the evening often ends with stories shared around the crackling fireplace. Vegetarian fare is easily arranged, from grilled vegetables and flatbreads to a filling cheese‑and‑spinach pie, ensuring everyone leaves the table content and warmed for the crisp mountain night.

Into the Wild: Trails and Wolf Tracking

The forest around Vučja Luka is laced with old shepherds’ paths and logging tracks that now serve as walking trails. From the inn’s doorstep, a well‑marked loop leads through a cathedral‑like stand of silver fir, crosses a cold stream, and climbs to a rocky outcrop where, on clear days, the distant red roofs of Sarajevo shimmer 18 kilometres away. In late spring, the meadows turn into a tapestry of purple crocus, wild orchids, and pale yellow arnica; guests are encouraged to pick handfuls of mint and lemon balm for tea. For longer walks, the staff can provide a packed lunch and a rudimentary map with notes on the best spots for wild strawberries in July.

Winter transforms the landscape into a quiet tracking ground. A local nature guide, often the innkeeper himself, takes small groups on pre‑dawn wolf‑tracking excursions. Fresh snow reveals the padded prints of wolves, the splayed toes of lynx, and the tiny stitches of fox. Patience and silence are rewarded not always with a sighting but with the primal thrill of walking the same ridgelines as a pack. In the evenings, the inn lends out binoculars and a thermal flask of tea for guests who wish to sit on the porch and watch for roe deer stepping out of the treeline. Birdwatchers will note the circling golden eagle, the call of the Ural owl, and the flash of a black woodpecker. Whether it’s a gentle ramble or a full‑day hike, the mountain rewards anyone who takes the time to wander.

The Restoration Journey: Moving a Log Home

The log house that now shelters visitors lived a different life for over a century on a neighbouring mountain. When the current owners discovered it in 2008, the building was still upright but abandoned, its hand‑hewn beams darkened by decades of woodsmoke. Rather than let it decay, they undertook the painstaking task of moving the entire structure. Each log was carefully numbered, rolled onto a horse‑drawn trailer, and transported five kilometres along narrow forest tracks to the present site. The original stone foundation was dismantled stone by stone and reassembled at the new plot, preserving the exact footprint and orientation of the old home.

In its first life, the house was a single tall room where a family of seven slept, cooked, and stored winter provisions. The upper reaches, open to the rafters, were used to dry hay, grains, and strips of beef – the same timber‑smoked suho meso that still hangs in the pantry. During the reconstruction, the owners added two upper floors, using logs salvaged from a derelict barn of the same age to match the patina. Electricity and plumbing were threaded behind the thick walls without a single visible cable, and a modern bathroom was tucked under the stairs. Every crack was packed with moss and sheep’s wool for insulation, just as the original builders did.

Today the house stands as a quiet monument to traditional craftsmanship. The initials carved into a beam above the fireplace – J.M. and 1897 – remain untouched, a reminder of the family that once called this place home. Furnished with embroidered wool blankets, antique brass lamps, and sturdy oak furniture, Vukov Konak feels neither like a museum nor an ordinary lodge. It is a living, breathing continuation of a wooden house’s century‑long story, now with the crackle of a different fire and the laughter of guests from faraway lands.