Typologically a Tyrolean-style villa, Jelendol Mansion or Puterhof Castle (as it is locally known) above Tržič was built in the 1890s by Julius Baron von Born, who at that time owned an extensive forested area in Tržič. After Julius’s death, the building, also known as St. Katharina Mansion, passed to his younger son Karl. In addition to serving as a residence, its premises housed a hotel and a spa. Karl thoroughly renovated the building in 1932—only to lose it forever less than a decade later. At the onset of the Second World War, when Upper Carniola was annexed to the Third Reich, the Nazi authorities confiscated the family’s entire property based on its Jewish descent. Karl fled, and the occupied Puterhof was converted to a German post, although not for long because it was already in 1944 that the constant barrage of Partisan attacks also drove the German troops from Puterhof, who left the castle almost completely gutted; according to witnesses, its interior furnishings were moved to the valley by truckloads for weeks. The castle was burned down by the Partisans that same year; nationalized after 1945, it was rebuilt into housing for workers from the Tržič forest district, which robbed the building of its noble sheen. Particularly deformed was the former tower displaying the Born family baronial coat of arms. Fortunately, the coat of arms itself has remained undamaged and may still be admired today. The only change was introduced to the ribbon running below the escutcheon, which, instead of featuring the original motto Quod sis esse vellis ‘Be content to be what you are’ now displays the carved inscription Obnovljeno 1966 ‘Renovated in 1966’.

Sources:
Komić Marn, Renata: Prispevek k rekonstrukciji nekdanje podobe Bornovega gradu v Puterhofu (Jelendolu). Kronika 68, 2020, št. 3 (Iz zgodovine Tržiča), pp. 681–706.
Rugále, Mariano in Preinfalk, Miha: Blagoslovljeni in prekleti. 1. del: Plemiške rodbine 19. in 20. stoletja na Slovenskem. Ljubljana: Viharnik, 2010, pp. 29–36.