Despite the passage of time, the house retains its original shape and architectural detailing. The building also has links to doctor Fortunat Nowicki - an important figure in the history of Nałęczów - as well as to his friend, Józef Ignacy Kraszewski.

History

The house was erected in years 1883-1885 by Fortunat Nowicki, the founder of the health resort as well as the shareholder and director of the Nałęczów Sanatorium. The name of the villa - “Pod Kraszewskim” - is intended to commemorate the famous writer, who was also the owner’s close friend. Following his death, the building was inherited by the renowned physician’s wife, Zenona Nowicka. Their protégé, Faustyna Mokrzycka, was a teacher whose personal ambition was to eradicate illiteracy among children; to that end, she used the house as the site of a secret school for children from Bochotnica and other nearby villages. In 1896, the building changed hands once again when Maria Krajewska inherited the house and the land on which it stood, which she then sold to Józef Franciszek Bagieński; in 1911, his children sold the house to the Nałęczów Credit Society, which later became known as the Cooperative Bank. Until the year 1921, a distinguished member of the Society, doctor Wacław Lasocki, continued to live in the venerable mansion. From 1951 onwards, the house served rather more mundane purposes, first being used as a delivery ward and then as a hotel for nurses. In 1996, the building was acquired from the Cooperative Bank by a private individual who owns it to this day. After a long period without any renovation works being carried out (from the second half of the 1970s onwards), the restoration of the house finally began in 2007.

The sculpted bust of Kraszewski, mounted on the façade to serve as a distinguishing feature of the house, was executed in 2008 by Marian Pudełko, a sculptor from Nałęczów.

Description

The villa occupies the inner part of an extensive, fenced plot of land located on the northern side of the main street leading through the town of Nałęczów - the Lipowa alley. The building is located on the eastern section of the street. The gable wall of the house faces the street. An outbuilding is located behind the villa, deep within the garden which spreads around the house. A steep slope towards the north and the east serves as a natural boundary for the plot of land on which the house stands.

The architectural style of the house can be described as simplified Baroque, with evident leanings towards the Art Nouveau style.

It was designed on an elongated rectangular floor plan, with an avant-corps breaking the monotony of each of its longer sides. The interior is divided into five sections and generally follows a two-bay layout, with a single-bay southern section that terminates in a semicircular apse. The body of the building consists of a number of distinct sections; the corps de logis of the mansion is covered by a mansard roof with dormer windows topped with semicircular rooflets; meanwhile, the northern section - a two-storey structure which was added at a later date - is covered with a hip roof. In addition, the building also features a basement. A balcony with a decorative balustrade rises above the semicircular apse which projects from the southern facade.

The building is made of brick and limestone, its walls covered with plaster; all roofs are clad with sheet metal.

The façades of the main, older section of the house follow a single-storey design and feature rusticated corners and rectangular windows and doors, with a profiled entablature providing the finishing touch. The surfaces of the mansard roof are pierced with dormer windows topped with semicircular cornices; some of them also feature decorative urns that rise above the dormers themselves. The eastern and western façades follow a five-axial design with three-axial avant-corps. The southern façade, on the other hand, follows a single-axial design with a semicircular apse in the middle, topped with a profiled cornice and a metal balustrade. The window is adorned with a rusticated surround with a keystone, with the sculpted bust of Józef Ignacy Kraszewski perched directly above. The two-storey section of the house - a later addition to the original structure - features string courses which separate the individual storeys from one another as well as a crowning cornice at the top; the windows are framed by profiled surrounds.

compiled by Anna Sikora-Terlecka, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Lublin, 20-11-2014.

Bibliography

• Record sheet, the “Pod Kraszewskim” villa, compiled by Serafinowicz Jacek, Seniuk Bronisław, Nałęczów 1998, Archive of the Regional Monuments Protection Office in Lublin, Archive of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Warsaw.
• Majewski K., Nałęczów Zdrój. Catalogue of historical monuments. Kazimierz Dolny nad Wisłą 1977, Archiwum WUOZ Lublin, [no page numbering available]
• Wasala W., Stepniak M., Mach M., PB Remontu i robót zabezpieczających istniejącej Willi pod Kraszewskim zlokalizowanej na działce nr ew. 367/3 położonej w Nałęczowie przy ul. Lipowej 41, Lublin 2007
• Tarka M., Dzieje Nałęczowa, Nałęczów 1989, p. 89