The complex is associated with Franciszka nee Krasiński, wife of Karol Wettin, great-grandmother of the Italian dynasty of kings.

History

The beginning of the manor house complex probably goes back to the 15th century. In the 16th century, when the owner of the estate was Stanisław Maleszowski, a fortified manor house (“castle”) was built on the island. At the end of the 16th century Maleszowa was purchased by the Krasiński family of the Korwin coat of arms. The transaction was carried out by Stanisław, later governor of Płock, in 1576. His successors, ultimately his son Gabriel, probably made some fundamental changes to the former manor complex. The changes might have covered the extension (and elevation) of the old castle building or perhaps the construction of a new building on older foundations. The preserved date of 1629 (on a stone tablet set in the wall of another building) testifies to some major construction work going on in the time. In the following years, the complex was probably upgraded; more information about it can be found in the diaries of Franciszka Krasińska, Stanisław’s daughter, the last of this line of the Krasiński family, born at the castle in 1742. In that time, it was a four-storey building with extensions in the corner towers, a spacious hallway rising up to the ceiling of the building and lit from above. Probably the grange had already existed and the surrounding area of the castle on the island was a well-maintained park and garden. The neighbouring settlement was probably developed at the end of the 18th century and in the early 19th century after Maria, Franciszka’s sister, transferred the Maleszowa estate as a dowry to Joachim Tarnowski in the mid-18th century. The buildings in the north-east part of the area are the manor house (annex) and a stable with a coach house (later perhaps the mentioned orangery), and in the west part, a barn, granary and other outbuildings. Further to the west, there is the so-called “storage” dating back to the 18th century, but probably being of an earlier origin and perhaps of a residential purpose. Ca. 1788 the Tarnowskis moved to the newly built sea in nearby Tarnoskała, and Maleszowa became the administrative center of the grange with the already abandoned castle on the island which had become a source of building material for the newer buildings. According to a description of 1850, the island was only a pile of rubble; on the other hand, the grange prospered with numerous farm and industrial facilities, as well as with an orchard and a garden. However, in the 1st half of the 19th century, as a result of mismanagement and appropriation by the Russian administration, it started to decline; in 1857 it was put for a public auction. After the auction, it was fragmented and the only property left in Maleszowa was the grange which was changing hands until 1939. It was occupied by the German residents during WW2. Following WW2, the complex was taken over by the state. The manor house building was adapted to accommodate a communal school. Later, it was used by the Polish Scouting Association, and the grange buildings and the surrounding area with ponds were transferred to the state or cooperative agricultural and manufacturing organizations. The storage building was purchased by a private owner for residential purposes. In the postwar period, some makeshift repairs and conversion were made, but generally the unused buildings were decaying. At the beginning of the 21st century, the property was purchased by a private company (repeatedly transformed) which embarked upon extensive conversion works (a hotel and leisure facility) and revitalization projects that have been continued ever since.

Description

The residential complex currently consists of: the remains of the castle, the “manor house” building, the remains of the stable and coach house, the storage and the former park and garden system. The central part of the complex was the castle on the island, now only the basement and foundations are preserved. North of the castle, on the east side of the area, there is the manor house - the former 18th-century annex. It is a one-storey building on a rectangular plan, its front façade facing west; the façade is an eight-axis structure divided into panels by flat pilaster strips.  The façades are topped with a cornice and a hipped roof. The inner layout is tow-bay, and the arrangement of chambers is typical of a double-entrance residential annex. Located nearby, closer to the road, the orangery and pineapplery (today these buildings are considered the original stables and a coach house) are currently ruins. The former manor garden was located between the annex (or “manor house”) and the orangery and pineapplery (stables and coach house); now, this is a well-maintained green area but with no signs of a landscape design. An important component of the complex is a pond embracing the island with the "castle" and widening to the south. One element of the complex is of unknown purpose or origin: it is a stone building to the west behind the road, on a slight elevation next to the manor house. It is called “the storage” and now has been converted into a dwelling house. It is a one-storey building on a rectangular plan, with a basement. It is covered with a grand multi-pitched roof. The grange complex was scattered between the storage and the residential section. Some of its remnants are outbuildings, clustered around a yard of a quadrilateral shape; it is separated from the road by a high wall. There is a former barn to the north, former granary to the east and newer farm and cooperative outbuildings; the other farm and manufacture facilities were demolished.The recently purchased land is currently redeveloped, and the buildings are gradually renovated.

The complex is not accessible (but partly visible); private property

Compiled by Dariusz Kalina, 20.12.2014.

Bibliography

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