In the north-western part of Zalaegerszeg, on a shore of the backwater Zala, among meadows and groves, the first Hungarian ethnographic museum on the open air is situated. It was opened for the public in August 1968. Here the visitors can see the models of folk architecture, buildings and regional houses of the past centuries.

Farmhouses and outbuildings represent the archaic types of buildings and their developed versions. The idea of the settlement and the Village Museum’s establishing was to illustrate the development of the region. In this museum on the open air was set a small village, consisting of   50 original farmhouses. The buildings show folk architecture, specific methods of building and the way of life typical for the citizens of Göcseji and its environs. The furniture in the houses shows the inner decoration of peasants’ houses in the region at the end of the 19th century.

The constructions with a small farm consisted of a farmhouse and other buildings, placed behind it or randomly set around and representing a closed, compact ensemble of buildings. They have different shapes, which is a feature of wooden buildings. The architecture of regions, rich in wood, varies a lot. Using different methods and decorative elements, people made every construction look unique. The common trait of the typical peasants’ houses is that it was situated on a horizontal wooden base and had walls of spruce logs. The roofs were covered with twisted bunches of straw. 

Supposedly, this land was occupied by Hungarians after the Carpathian basin conquest. The land became colonized at the end of the 10th century. Most of the people living there did military service, the members of the gentry, who influenced the organization of a typical settlements’ structure, came from the nobles. The specific climate, particular geographic factors and a common history of people with a mixed legal status were a solid base for a village flourishing.