The building was built of limestone, building material characteristic of the region.

History

Count Andreas Renard, the then owner of the castle in nearby Strzelce Opolskie, founded a stud farm for breeding racehorses in Olszowa in 1825. The remaining farm buildings concentrated around two yards were used for breeding sheep and cattle. After 1945, the grange belonged to the State Treasury. After being purchased by a private person, it has been revitalised. The Park of Sacred Miniatures was opened in the nearby area in 2014, and the part built in 1912 is now used as a guesthouse.

Description

The farm complex in Olszowa is located about 5 km south of Strzelce Opolskie. Farm buildings were concentrated around two yards on both sides of the road, in the western part of the village. On the south side, around the greater yard, there were stables, cowshed, granary, utility and residential buildings, and garden. Buildings situated along Hodowlana Street, including stable, cowshed and granary located west of the entrance to the yard, have survived to this day.

The building was built on a floor plan in the shape of a strongly elongated rectangle, consists of two storeys, with a usable attic in the eastern part. It is covered with a half-hip roof, whose extended southern plane forms a large eaves. The walls were made of crushed limestone and brick. The decorative character of the façades was obtained by combining the white colour of limestone with red brick, which was used to make, among others, surrounds of window openings and architectural detail reminiscent of Gothic Revival.

Stables were located in the basement, the upper storey and the eastern part of the building were used as a granary. The layout of the façades reflects the internal divisions that result from the functions performed. Longer façades of the western part are eleven-axial, with an entrance from the yard. The windows on the ground floor are topped with a segmental arch, with the upper windows in the shape of narrow rectangles; each pair of the windows is framed by brick surrounds. The northern façade is pierced by a large rectangular loading opening between the windows, on every third axis. The upper part of the south façade is obscured by eaves and an entablature supporting the eaves; the south façade is slightly taller than the north one because of the landform. Inside the stables there are sail vaults supported by two rows of columns. A corridor runs in the centre, while horse boxes with stone feeding troughs are on the sides.

The side façades of the eastern storage part are five-axial. On the ground floor there are windows in the same shape as the neighbouring ones, framed by brick and stone surrounds. The upper rectangular windows topped with an arch are arranged in pairs and placed in common niches also topped with an arch. Between them there is an entrance opening, above it there is a large niche with a loading opening framed by two windows.

The eastern gable-end façade divided horizontally by cornices, vertically by lesenes and additionally by brick and stone frames around the niches and window and loading openings placed in the niches is characterised by the most decorative layout. A small blind window bears the construction date of the building: "1912". The storeys of the eastern part are covered by beamed ceilings, while the passage is topped by segmental ceilings. The original interior layout has been altered during adaptation for the new function.

The monument is open to visitors from the outside. The interior of the western part are not open to visitors, while viewing of the eastern part is possible by arrangement or for hotel guests.

compiled by Ewa Kalbarczyk-Klak, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Opole, 13-11-2015.

Bibliography

• Zapomniane zabytki, E. Molak, I. Racławicki, Opole 2008, vol. 1, pp. 316-319.