Wooden house dating from 1926 |
Area: 140 m² |
Location: Garbatka-Letnisko, Poland |
Status: project completed |
The house was built in 1926, at a time when Garbatka was developing as a popular summer resort. It belonged to Apolonia and Kazimierz Komorowski, and surviving photographs from the 1930s provided an important point of reference for understanding its history and original character before the design process began.
The project started by determining which elements of the house should remain as intact as possible, and where its historic structure could accommodate new functions. The characteristic scale of the rooms and small window openings was retained, together with the timber floors, joinery, wall panelling, tiled stoves and original tiles, as well as the natural traces of age visible in the materials. The intention was neither to reconstruct a 1920s interior nor to create a retro pastiche. New elements were designed to complement the existing fabric rather than imitate its age.
At the same time, the house needed to accommodate contemporary and more flexible use, including visiting guests. Two independent bathrooms were introduced on the upper floor, parts of the internal layout were adjusted and new services were designed, while interventions in the existing structure were kept to a minimum.
The kitchen became one of the focal points of the project. New cabinetry was fitted into the compact timber interior, while the tiled stove was redesigned in reference to the existing kitchen range, with the intention of reusing the original tiles wherever their condition after dismantling would allow. Green ceramic tiles and joinery, a red cupboard, timber and individual pieces of furniture from different periods create an interior that does not attempt to look new, but has equally not been artificially aged.
The same principle runs through the remaining rooms. Contemporary functional and technical solutions were introduced in a way that allows the old house to continue functioning as an old house, retaining its scale, imperfections and material history.
Willa Apolonii i Kazimierza Komorowskich w Garbatce. Jesień 1935. Fot. F. Łagodziński- Radom. Zbiór Lecha Zięby.jpg
