In June 2001, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Igartubeiti Farmhouse Museum, the technical experts who helped restore the building in the 1990s offered guided tours.
The tours offered by historian Alberto Santana, architect Ramón Ayerza and Manu Izagirre, the technical officer in charge of Heritage Affairs at the Department of Culture of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, were recorded and have since been transcribed.
The file attached below is a transcript of the guided tour given by historian Alberto Santana, in which he talks about the historical study of the farmhouse, the architectural characteristics of its time, the changes made to the structure of the building, the way of life of its inhabitants, the way in which the different spaces were used and other aspects of tangible culture.
Manu Izagirre begins his tour by talking about the products grown in the vegetable garden at Igartubeiti in the 16th and 17th centuries. He also recounts the dismantling of the farmhouse and the archaeological dig carried out during the restoration work. In the course of the tour he also explains the different construction features dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, and how the Igartubeiti farmhouse itself changed over time.
He also has some curious stories to tell about the kitchen and bedroom arrangements inside the building.
He ends his tour with an explanation of the workings of the beam-type cider press at Igartubeiti, with the aid of a model.
Finally, architect Ramon Ayerza explains the condition that the Igartubeiti was in prior to its restoration, and takes us through the various stages of the restoration process: marking every piece, dismantling, treating the wood, demolishing everything but the masonry walls and finally reassembling the farmhouse.
He mentions various methods for analysing wood which he believes provided a great deal of useful data.
He also explains the “golden age” in Gipuzkoa in the 16th century.