A part of the urban layout of the Old Town Square.

History

Originally, the property consisted of two land plots delineated when Piotrków obtained town rights in the 14th century. In the second half of the 17th century, they were occupied by one townhouse known as Tomiecczyzna, belonging to the Tomiecki family. It was destroyed in 1706 as a result of a fire that had swept through the town. The empty plot was filled by another townhouse, erected by Jan Tomiecki before 1770. In the 1770s, the townhouse was taken over by the heirs of Jan. In 1786, the building was destroyed by another fire. Tomiecki’s heirs sold the destroyed building to avoid the costs of its renovation. In 1793, almost the entire townhouse belonged to Anna and Antoni Vicyni, with the exception of one apartment, which belonged to the Maruszewski family. After the death of Antoni Vicyni, the townhouse became the property of Anna and her husband’s nephews - Ludwik and Albert Vicyni. In 1817, Anna designated the brothers Karol and Jerzy Szamder and their families as her heirs. Due to financial complications, the supervision over the property was entrusted to Antoni Maszandro – Antoni Vicyni’s nephew. After the death of Maszandro, the townhouse was seized by the creditors - the Olszyński family. As a result of a dispute between the Olszyński family and the Vincyni family, the townhouse was put up for auction. In 1842, it was bought by Kazimierz Podowski. He also became the owner of the part belonging to the Maruszewski family (since 1839, it had belonged to the Bernardines of Piotrków). In 1846, Podowski sold the property to Henryk Szwabie, who in turn sold it to Józef and Kajetan Lipko. They erected a new house “from fired bricks laid with lime mortar, with two floors, cellars, clad with iron sheet metal”. When Józef died, his wife leased the ground floor for two shops and apartments. In 1860, the house was bought by Józef Grzędzic, a gymnasium (grammar school) professor. In 1878, he sold the property to Julia and Leon Glikszman. They in turn sold it to Fiszel and Itta Litmanowicz in 1899. From 1921, a half of the property was owned by Moszek and Estera Sztajn. In 1937, Bronisław Grynbaum bought a part of the property from the Litmanowicz children. In 1946, Bronisław’s brother – Bera Grynbaum sold half of the property to Leokadia and Leonard Betyn. The other owners died during the Second World War and their part of the house became the property of the State Treasury.

Description

The property is situated in the central part of the southern frontage of the Tribunal Square. Its façade faces north. The townhouse and two outbuildings were erected along the northern, eastern and western boundaries of the plot. From the east and the west, they are adjoined by three-storey townhouses.

The townhouse together with the outbuildings follow a U-shaped floor plan. The principal block was erected on a floor plan of a rectangle. It is two-bay, with a hallway and a staircase on the axis. The outbuildings are one-bay and follow a rectangular floor plan. The eastern outbuilding has external stairs.

The townhouse and the eastern outbuilding are three-storey, while the western outbuilding has two storeys. Their compact structures are covered with mildly sloping roofs. The principal block has a gable roof and the outbuildings have shed roofs.

It represents the Eclectic style.

The townhouse and the outbuildings were built from solid, ceramic bricks and stones, laid with lime mortar. In the cellars, there are barrel and groin vaults. The above-ground storeys have vaults made from wooden beams. In the staircase in the eastern outbuilding, there is a barrel vault.

The roof truss over the front building is wooden, with two queen-post walls. The rafters are connected with collar beams. The outbuildings are covered with shed roofs. The roofs are covered with bituminous felt on the roof boarding. In the cellars, there are earthen and concrete floors. On the ground floor, there are white terracotta and wooden floors on joists. On the upper floors, there are wooden plank floors.

The half-turn stairs are made of wood, with treads based on stringers. The wooden balustrade is made from turned balusters.

On the ground floor, there are permanently fixed shop windows, not divided into sections. Above, there are modern, coupled windows with a pane pattern imitating that of the original windows. The windows are two-wing. On the second storey, each wing is divided into three sections and on the third storey - into four sections. The front elevation on the ground floor has a wooden, frame-panelled door, glazed at the top. In the balconies, there are modern, coupled porte-fenêtre doors. In other places, there are contemporary, panelled doors. The front elevation – northern, five-axial, symmetrical, three-storey. The wall is smoothly plastered and set on a low plinth The axes of the elevation are accented by the rectangular openings. On the ground floor, the central axis and the edges are accented by the door openings and the other axes by the shop windows. They are all flanked by a pair of pilasters and topped with a full arch. The ground floor is topped with a profiled cornice. Above, in the second and fourth axis from the east, there are porte-fenêtre doors leading to the balconies, which rest on cast-iron supports. The balconies have decorative metal balustrades. Under the other windows, there are smooth panels. All the openings on the upper floors are surrounded by profiled frames and above them there are sections of profiled cornices. Under the openings of the third storey, the cornices also have the function of window sills. The openings are surrounded by profiled frames, with sections of profiled cornices above them. At the top, the townhouse is adorned with an entablature with a smooth frieze and a prominent eaves cornice.

The southern elevation is three-storey and four-axial. The axes are arranged against the background of a smoothly plastered wall. The openings are rectangular, with no surrounds. The elevations of the outbuildings are likewise smoothly plastered and lack any articulation. The building has retained the shape and interior layout from the mid-19th century, as well as the vaulted cellars. Other noteworthy features include the original door joinery in the staircase and the stuccoed ceiling in one of the rooms on the first floor of the townhouse.

Private property. The building can be viewed from outside.

Compiled by Agnieszka Lorenc-Karczewska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź 29 June 2020

Bibliography

• Korczak-Ziołkowski J., Record sheet of monuments of architecture and construction, 1994, Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Łódź, National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Warsaw,
• Głowacki K., Urbanistyka Piotrkowa Trybunalskiego, Piotrków Trybunalski – Kielce 1984.