Zadruga Miličina

A homecoming, a promise, a gathering place

In the tiny, time-worn village of Ložišća on the island of Brač, a quiet story is beginning to unfold—one rooted in memory, gratitude, and the desire to preserve something precious. It is the story of Zadruga Miličina, a project born not out of strategic planning, but from a whisper of the heart—of returning, remembering, and reweaving the threads of community.

In 1990, I arrived on Brač by bicycle, having no plan beyond curiosity and open roads. At the top of a steep hill lined with stone houses, we stopped for water. What we found was Milica. With a warm smile and water drawn from her cistern sweetened by homemade syrup, she welcomed us like family. Her generosity etched itself into my memory. We abandoned our original plans and stayed—just a few days, but long enough for the island to root itself deep within me.

Over three decades later, through a series of uncanny coincidences, I found myself back in Ložišća. The village felt both familiar and unknown—more silent, more fragile. Yet as I wandered, I found myself standing once again in front of Milica’s house. Locals remembered her. They opened up to me when I showed them pictures of us standing with her at her front door. And in an extraordinary twist, I learned that the house had been empty since her passing. Her family was open to letting it go—into the hands of someone who still remembered her smile.

That moment sparked a vision.

Zadruga Miličina is my response to that call. It is a dream to breathe life back into this 230-year-old home, not as a private escape, but as a zadruga—a traditional Croatian concept of cooperative living and shared purpose. It will be a space where old and new residents, artists and artisans, visitors and villagers can come together. A place where bread is baked in a wood-fired oven, where stories are told in many languages, and where history is not locked behind glass but alive in conversation, music, and meals.

This is about preserving more than stone walls. It’s about safeguarding the essence of a village that still remembers. About resisting the wave of faceless development and instead nurturing something sustainable, rooted, and real. In a time when so many places are losing their soul, Zadruga Miličina hopes to honor the deep traditions of Dalmatia while inviting others to become caretakers of its future.

Here, we will restore not only a house, but a way of life—where neighbors gather, culture is shared, and peace comes from the slow rhythms of a village in harmony with the land and sea. Where each visitor, whether they stay a day or a season, is welcomed into a circle of belonging.

I did not plan this path. I followed it with an open heart. And now, I am here, ready to give back to the island that gave so much to me.