The Kosov Manor Farm (Rychta) is one of the landmarks of the village of Kosov. It is situated on the left side of the road leading from Zábřeh to Lanškroun. The building was constructed in the 1830s in the Neoclassical style, and the original layout of the traditional farmhouse has been preserved to this day. It is a large structure with a gabled and hipped roof supported by hand-hewn collar-beam trusses. Originally, the roof was covered with wooden shingles. The farmstead retains its residential quarters, stables, barn, and other agricultural facilities. The walls were built of handmade bricks bonded with clay mortar; the bricks were fired near the construction site itself. The walls are up to 90 cm thick.
Among the interior features worth noting are a large living room with its original wooden ceiling (beer was tapped and dances were held here during the 19th century), Dorota’s Chamber with a painted ceiling, a spacious entrance hall, and stables with the so-called Czech vault. A small cellar for storing food was also built beneath the residential section. A separate cellar used for storing and cooling milk was dug into the slope of the garden across the road; however, it no longer exists today.
The manor is entered through a stone portal topped with a medallion bearing the house number “1,” the name Ignatz Steidel, and the year 1834, all carved in stone. The dormer windows above the portal are fitted with louvered shutters, and the dormer is crowned by a triangular pediment featuring the so-called “Eye of God” motif and the year 1838 inscribed in Roman numerals. The living quarters contain double casement windows set into deep reveals; some are decorated with ornamental iron grilles, and sandstone sills are located beneath the windows.
The first documented reeve (rychtář) of Kosov was Václav Vaniorek (1618), followed by Jakub Vaniorek, Michal Kovář, Pavel Urban, and Pavel Brauner. In 1666, Hans Steidl of Tatenice purchased the manor from Brauner for 600 Moravian thalers. From that year onward, the Steidl family has owned the manor continuously to the present day, with the exception of the period from 1997 to 2010. The current manor building was commissioned by the reeve Ignatz Steidel.
Historically, the reeve was the most important person in the village and represented the local lord. He served as the lowest judicial authority for the villagers, supervised public order and safety, ensured compliance with compulsory labor obligations, collected fees and payments in kind, and managed various administrative duties. The reeve’s farm was exempt from many obligations imposed on ordinary peasants. Initially, the office of reeve was hereditary, but later reeves were appointed by the lord for a limited term. A significant change came in 1597 with the establishment of the hereditary-purchase reeveship, allowing reeves to acquire the office for their descendants.
The Chronicle of Kosov records:
“The reeve is not required to perform compulsory labor, but he has these duties: to collect all princely rents, assign the subjects to labor service, oversee sowing and harvesting at the manor and sheepfold, supervise timber floating at the Jiský ponds free of charge, and be present whenever required.”
The manor functioned as an agricultural farm until 1995. Some agricultural machinery used for horse-drawn cultivation has been preserved in the farm buildings, including a working grain threshing machine. In the feed preparation area, machinery powered through a transmission shaft system can still be seen.
In June 1894, the writer Růžena Svobodová stayed at the Kosov Manor Farm. She came to Kosov on the recommendation of her friend, the Prague publisher and editor Josef Pecl. She later developed her impressions of village life into a series of articles published in the influential Prague magazine Rozhledy. In 1898, these writings were issued in book form under the title V odlehlé dědině (Diary Sketches from a Moravian Village). In 2014, a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the manor to mark the 120th anniversary of her stay. Inside the building, visitors can view a small exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Růžena Svobodová.