Izaskun, is from the Otaegi farmhouse, which can be seen from the main square of the village; up the hill, white, located in the Aginagamendi neighbourhood of Beizama. It is a farmhouse of archaeological value, according to what we’ve read on the Internet. Izaskun’s first surname is not Otaegi, but she explained that it is a surname that is quite widespread in Beizama. It is a surname that over time, and in some cases, has lost the “A”. Both Otegi and Otaegi mean “hillside with gorse”, which indicates that between the 12th and 14th centuries the area could have been full of this thorny bush with yellow flowers, unlike today, when the landscape is full of trees.
According to what she told us, and as we remember, the first paper records of the farmhouse date back to 1530, so we can deduce that the farmhouse dates from before that time.
The farmhouses have been transformed over the course of history, and those that remain today will probably not be very similar to the original ones, as over the years, depending on the needs and the times, the farmhouses have been renovated, transformed and adapted to their time, generally maintaining their original name.
Nowadays, few people make a living from the farmhouse as they did in the past. However, it’s important to maintain the farmhouses as heritage, as they tell us about the origin of the Basque people, in this case. The Otaegi farmhouse looks good and, for sure, has a lot of life ahead of it!