The villa falls into the category of mansions designed in the so-called Italianate style, erected within the area of the Nałęczów health resort in the late 19th century and in the early 20th century. Despite the passage of time, the house retains its original shape and architectural detailing. The overall interior layout has also survived intact, along with some of the interior fixtures and fittings. Despite the poor technical condition of its façade, the house retains an immense artistic, historical and research value which makes it an outstanding example of local historical architecture. The villa plays a very important role in the spatial layout of the town of Nałęczów and in the cultural landscape of the Lipowa alley - the town’s main street.

History

The villa was erected towards the end of the 19th century (most likely in years 1897-1900) by Edmund Raciborski, the erstwhile owner of a large parcel of land on Lipowa alley, which was subsequently subdivided into smaller plots of land. The house is one of the Italianate villas which have emerged during the second phase of development of the resort town of Nałęczów, i.e. in years 1900-1914, the first phase of development having begun back in 1880. The house changed ownership a number of times over its lifespan, its successive owners being the Raciborski, Bielski, Mochliński and Bartosiewicz families. Over the years, many eminent guests graced the house with their presence, including Bolesław Prus, who stayed at the house during the first decade of the 20th century, as well as Tadeusz Steich, who lived here in the 1970s and the 1980s. Today, commemorative plaques attached to the façade of the building serve as a reminder of this fact. In 1958, the house was acquired by Ewelina Bartosiewicz, who founded a guest house and a café and restaurant, which remains widely known as “Ewelina” until this very day. The house is also famous for its collection of paintings executed by artists from the Lublin, Kazimierz and Nałęczów regions. Today, the owner of the house is Jacek Bartosiewicz.

Description

The villa is situated deep inside a fenced plot of land on the southern side of Lipowa alley. The building is made of limestone and brick, designed on a floor plan the shape of which approximates that of the letter “H”. The overall shape of the villa is complex and diverse, featuring an asymmetrically positioned tower on the south-eastern corner. The house is covered with stepped roofs concealed behind parapet walls accentuated by pilasters, with a large, blind oculus incorporated into a decorative pediment rising above the said parapet wall in the front section of the villa serving as the finishing touch. The eastern surface of the roof is pierced by dormer windows adorned with surrounds which take the form of small, semicircular pediments. The facades set atop a tall plinth accentuated by a socle cornice, with the individual levels being partitioned from one another with string courses. A pronounced crowning cornice rises above the final storey of the house. The windows are rectangular in shape, some of them adorned with profiled surrounds. The two windows in the front façade are topped by triangular pediments, one of the incorporating a tondo with a relief depicting the Virgin Mary with Child. The front (northern) façade also incorporates a wooden, glazed veranda with fretwork decorations. The rear (southern) façade features a receded terrace on its central axis and a tower embedded in the eastern section of the façade. Both façades feature balconies with decorative cast iron balustrades. The western façade features a terrace which is in fact a relic of a now-defunct veranda. The interior follows a three-bay layout, although in the middle part of the house a two-bay layout with a hallway is used instead. Some of the interiors have been adapted to serve the needs of the guest house, café and restaurant. In certain rooms, parts of the original fixtures and fittings have survived, including the original parquet flooring, stylised plasterwork rosettes on the flat ceilings and a tiled stove with a decorative top section incorporating allegorical sculpted busts.

Private property. The structure is accessible all year round.

compiled by Anna Sikora-Terlecka, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Lublin, 02-07-2014.

Bibliography

• Record sheet of monuments of architecture - the “Pod Matką Boską” villa, compiled by A. Sikora - Terlecka, B. Stanek-Lebioda, Lublin 1998 r., typescript available at the Archive of the Regional Monuments Protection Office in Lublin.
• Record sheet of monuments of architecture - outbuildings in the complex of the “Pod Matką Boską” villa, compiled by A. Sikora Terlecka, M. Osmulska - Paprota, Lublin 2008, typescript available at the Archive of the Regional Monuments Protection Office in Lublin.
• Majewski K., Nałęczów Zdrój. Catalogue of historical monuments. Kazimierz Dolny nad Wisłą 1977, Archive of the Regional Monuments Protection Office in Lublin, file no. 6177
• Nałęczów i jego okolice. Przewodnik informacyjny dla leczących się i lekarzy, wg. K. Chełchowskiego, A. Puławskiego, K. Sacewicza, Warsaw 1897, Archive of the Regional Monuments Protection Office in Lublin, file no. 356
• Tarka M., Dzieje Nałęczowa, Nałęczów 1989, Archive of the Regional Monuments Protection Office in Lublin, file no. 3037