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Villa - former Abram Gurewicz’s health resort with a garden - Zabytek.pl

Villa - former Abram Gurewicz’s health resort with a garden


villa Otwock

Address
Otwock, Juliana Filipowicza 2

Location
woj. mazowieckie, pow. otwocki, gm. Otwock

The villa, built to serve as a health resort, is one of the largest wooden buildings in Poland.

It stands out with its significant historical and artistic value as a representative example of the Świder style, since 1930s commonly referred to as “Świdermajer”, after the poet Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński. This style prevailed among wooden summer houses and health resort buildings erected in the vicinities of Otwock in the years 1880-1939, along the Vistula Railway Line. The style was brought to life by an outstanding draughtsman Michał Elwiro Andriolli, who was inspired by wooden architecture of Mazovia, Swiss architecture popular in Europe at that time and Russian ornaments - the so-called jigsaw style.

History

The oldest part of the building, a rectangular “Willa Górewiczanka”, was erected in the years 1906-1910 for Abram Gurewicz (Górewicz) to serve as his residence. Later on, due to a multi-stage expansion that lasted until 1925, the wooden feature obtained a plan consisting of 6 wings with the total usable area of 2,700 m2 and cubage of 20,000 m3. It was adapted to serve as a guest house, a health resort and, in 1939, as a curative and dietetic centre. A comfortably equipped facility could host 80 convalescents and persons seeking relaxation. It was equipped with tap water, sewage system, electricity, telephone, tile ovens and later - district heating. In 1927 walls of a dining room and a reading room were adorned with paintings by Józef Tom. Around the building an English garden was arranged, including a fountain, flowerbeds and exotic plants. A brick corner in the western part of the building was erected before 1935. Utility facilities on the Wspólna Street side were gradually transformed and expanded. In 1939 the health resort gained an ice house, a greenhouse, a new garage made of brick and a gatehouse, a coal storage facility and a garage made of wood. At the beginning of World War II the Germans installed a local command in the main building and a military hospital in 1941. During the war, a rounded brick corner was added to the oldest part housing a kitchen. In 1948 heirs of Abram Gurewicz sold the property to the Warsaw Self-Government Board; later, the building was bought by the Ministry of Education. At first, a sanatorium was located in the building, in 1953 a Central Aviation Hospital and in the years 1960-1997 the building housed a Medical Secondary School. The facility underwent numerous renovations and the interiors of the front wing were transformed due to their adaptation to the needs of new users. In the 1980s two wings on the Armii Krajowej Street side were demolished and rebuilt of brick with wooden siding and carpentry decoration inspired by the original one. Some of the old utility facilities and new buildings underwent transformations. The property was recently taken away from a previous owner who had neglected it; the new owner promised to bring back its former glory.

Description

The historic feature is located in the centre of Otwock, on the southern side of railway tracks. It is situated in the northern part of a large, wooded plot surrounded by Armii Krajowej, J. Filipowicz, J. Poniatowski and Wspólna Streets (except for a narrow plot on the south-western side). This area, representing the villa’s surroundings, is also covered by monument protection.

The building is made of wood with brick elements. It has two storeys and a basement under a part thereof. Wings of a different size, built in stages, form an irregular plan of the building. They are crowned with a gable roof clad with membrane. Most external walls have a wooden, beam and post-and-plank structure on a foundation (except for front wings reconstructed by use of bricks in the 1980s), with a siding made of profiled boards. Alternate arrangement of boards in vertical and horizontal strips makes up decorative forms of the façade. Two brick fragments in extreme parts of the north façade are plastered. Terraces where convalescents could lounge, balconies and glazed verandas used in wintertime are distinctive for the Świder style. They were located mainly on the southern and eastern side, which is the richest in sunlight. These elements are distinguished by lavish floral and geometric ornaments carved in wood. Similar forms adorn the remaining architectural detail, such as inter-storey cornices, window headers or gables of roofs above entrances. The interiors are illuminated by large, multi-panel windows with straight or semi-circular terminations. During the abovementioned reconstruction of two wings that took place in the late 20th century, a distinctive tower with a terrace and a pointed crest, located above the main entrance on the Armii Krajowej Street side as well as two terraces adjoining the main wing in the north and south were not recovered. Currently, the building remains in a dilapidated condition.

The structure is out of use, available to be viewed from the outside.

Compiled by Małgorzata Laskowska-Adamowicz, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Warsaw, 15-12-2014.

Bibliography

  • Karta Ewidencyjna, Willa - d. uzdrowisko Abrama Gurewicza, oprac. Jerzy Szałygin, Otwock 1999, Archiwum NID.
  • Kałuszko J., Ajdacki P. Otwock i okolice, Pruszków 2006, s.48-52, 85-86,
  • Lewandowski R. Kronenberg, Andriolli i wilegiatura, czyli podwarszawskie letniska linii otwockiej, Józefów 2012
  • Popławska - Bukało E., Uzdrowisko Abrama Gurewicza w Otwocku, „Mazowsze”, 1994, s. 39-42
  • Urzykowski T. Perła Otwocka uratowana! Drewniany pensjonat znalazł nabywcę http://m.warszawa.gazeta.pl/warszawa/1,106541,16943204,Perla_Otwocka_uratowana__Drewniany_pensjonat_znalazl.html

Objects data updated by Marek Smolak.

Category: villa

Architecture: nieznana

Building material:  wood

Protection: Register of monuments, Monuments records

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_14_BK.177176, PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_E_14_BK.310838