History

The villa at No. 4 Miła Street was commissioned by Doctor Edward Otto and was built in 1910. The design was created by Konrad Kłos - an architect and photographer well known in Rawa. The building was separated from the street by a fence, with an entrance gate leading to the yard.

In the southern part of the land plot, a cottage was erected for the gardener who looked after the garden around the villa. The garden covered a large portion of the land plot.

In 1924, the villa was remodelled.

After the Second World War, an alley was laid out across the land plot to provide access to the school neighbouring with the property from the east. In this way, the area was divided into two independent parts.

In the garden, the number of planted trees and bushes was reduced to just a few.

The building housed various offices and institutions. At present, it is the seat of Dr Edward Otto Foundation, which organizes cultural events, mostly associated with music. The gardener’s cottage no longer has a permanent user.

Description

The villa complex is situated in the centre of the town, to the east of the Town Hall.

It occupies a land plot shaped like an irregular quadrangle. In its northern part, there is the main building, separated from the cottage in the southern part by the lawns (the former garden) and the passage leading to the school.

The villa was built on a rectangular floor plan. The structure is two-storey high in the front (western) part and one-storey in the part facing the garden (eastern). Almost the entire building is cellared. The higher part of the building is topped with a mansard roof, whereas the one-storey part has a three-hipped roof. The gardener’s cottage was built on a rectangular floor plan. It is a single-storey and cellared building with a shed roof.

The villa was built from solid bricks and is plastered on both sides. It has a wooden roof truss, wooden ceilings and segmental vaults resting on steel beams. The roof is tiled. The gardener’s cottage was built from solid ceramic bricks too, but was not plastered. The surrounds of the openings and corners are made of sandstone. The building has a wooden roof truss.

In the main building, the western elevation serves as the façade. It is five-axial and two-storey, with a high mansard roof, designed symmetrically. The central axis is accented by the porch. On the roof of the porch, there is a balcony with a stone balustrade. It is accessed through the balcony door on the first floor. In addition, this axis contains two narrow window openings. The whole is crowned with a decorative top pierced with a small semicircular window opening of the attic. All other window and door openings in this elevation have a rectangular shape. In the central part of the garden-facing - southern elevation, there is a terrace with an openwork balustrade and stairs flanked by two stone scroll-like volutes. The stairs lead to the former garden. The eastern elevation has two small window openings. The northern elevation is asymmetrical, its western part is formed by the two-storey part of the front wing. The other part is single-storey.

In the gardener’s cottage, the western elevation serves as the façade. It is one-axial and asymmetrical and the door opening is slightly offset. The only window opening is located in the northern elevation. The corners of the elevations and the openings are decorated by sandstone surrounds. The walls are decorated with a stone cornice running at the height of 2/3 of the wall.

The building can be viewed from outside. It can be toured inside upon prior arrangement by telephone.

Prepared by Anna Michalska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź. 15 December 2017

Bibliography

• Katalog zabytków architektury, województwo skierniewickie, Warszawa 1996