History

The corner plot at the intersection of Farna and Grodzka Streets was already delineated in the first plans of the town from the 14th century. In the absence of archaeological and architectural research, it is not possible to establish precisely when the first brick building was built in this area. At the end of the 18th century, there was a brick townhouse there, the so-called “Leśniewiczowska”. It was damaged in 1786 during a major fire that swept through the city. At the end of the 18th century, the property was owned by the cup-bearer (Polish: Cześnik) Zaręba and then by his heirs. In 1834, the townhouse was bought by Jakub Majkowski, who carried out its “restoration”. “The roof, beams and ceilings” were replaced then. In 1836, Majkowski bought a part of the property along Grodzka Street. In 1837, he died and the property was inherited by his heirs - his wife and children. The house became burdened with debt and had to be put up for auction in 1840. According to a description of the house from that time, the interior contained “an entrance hall, a shop, four rooms, a corner extension and a kitchen - on the ground floor, as well as five rooms on the first floor. The townhouse was bought by the main creditor – Feliks Brzeziński from Wieruszów, and then by Franciszek Modrzejewski - a Defender of the Court of Peace in Piotrków Trybunalski. He sold the townhouse to Feliks Wittman – a clerk at the same Court of Peace. In 1847, Feliks Wittman sold it to Wiktor Józef Bogoria Wołłowicz – the owner of the Brodnia estate. After his death, the heirs sold the property at an auction to Jan Przanowski from Tomaszów Mazowiecki. Przanowski leased out the property. After the First World War, Przanowski’s heirs sold more parts of the property belonging to them. In 1945, the property was bought by the Furmański couple.

Description

The townhouse is situated in the Old Town, in the quarter between Farna Street, Grodzka Street, Old Town Square and Czarneckiego Square. It stands in the south-eastern corner of the quarter, in the tightly built-up area of the eastern frontage of Farna Street and the southern frontage of Grodzka Street. The plot stretches along Grodzka Street.

The building does not represent any style.

It was erected on a floor plan of a trapeze. It is two-bay, with a hallway reached via a door from Farna Street.

The cellars of the building are made from solid ceramic bricks laid in a block system and from fieldstones, bound with lime mortar. The walls of the above-ground storeys are made from solid, ceramic bricks, bound with lime mortar. The walls were plastered inside and outside with lime mortar.

Above the cellars, there are barrel vaults with lunettes (filled with bricks and then cut out again) made from solid ceramic bricks laid with lime mortar. A part of the hallway on the ground floor is covered with barrel vaults. The ceilings are made from wooden beams with a soffit, smoothly plastered with lime mortar on a reed mat.

The roof structure is made of wood, with a rafter and purlin structure, supported on two incomplete queen post plates. The latter are incorporated in the attic partition walls. In the eastern part, there are two wall dormers, and in the western part - three skylights. The building has a gable roof with a pediment from the south, with a ridge parallel to Farna Street, covered with bituminous felt on the roof boarding.

In the cellar, the floor is made of clay mixed with chopped straw. In the hallway on the ground floor, there are concrete floors. In other rooms, there are plank floors on joists, partially covered with carpeting.

The balcony platforms are made from planks, supported on metal double-t beams. The railing is made from metal bars and flat bars.

One-flight, quarter-turn stairs lead to the cellars. The stairs are made of brick and the landings are wooden. The stairs leading to the first floor are wooden, with winders, quarter-turn. The wooden balustrade is made from turned balusters and has a wooden, profiled handrail.

The windows in the cellar have jambs splayed internally. Windows without woodwork. The window in the southern elevation on the ground floor is a rectangular, fixed, display window with two levels, divided by a transom bar. There is also a rectangular window with a two-wing, four-section frame. On the first floor, in both elevations, there are rectangular windows with wooden frames, casement-type, double-wing, with a top fanlight. The wings are divided into three sections or two sections. In the wall dormer, there are rectangular windows, with wooden frames, of casing-type, double-wing, four-section. The single, tiltable skylights have wooden frames.

The doors in the southern elevation are double-wing, wooden, frame-panelled, glazed at the top, with a double-section fanlight. There are also broken, frame-panelled doors, glazed at the top. In the eastern elevation, there are three double, two-wing, frame-panelled doors, glazed at the top, with an overlight.

The southern elevation – smoothly plastered. On the ground level, there are two rectangular cellar openings. The ground floor is four-axial. The outermost axes are defined by the rectangular window openings, the middle ones - by the rectangular door openings. The eastern corner is reinforced with a buttress. The storeys are separated by a profiled cornice. On the first floor, there are four rectangular window openings, placed asymmetrically, adorned with profiled surrounds. The top of the wall is crowned with a pediment framed by a profiled cornice. In the tympanum, there are two square window openings, placed centrally, with no decorative surrounds. To the east of those window openings, there is a rectangular opening, and to the west - a circular one.

The eastern elevation has smooth plasterwork. It has a two-storey structure. On the ground floor, the southern corner is strengthened by a diagonal buttress. The ground floor is five-axial. The rectangular window opening defines the northernmost axis, whereas the rectangular door openings defines the other ones. On the first floor, there are five rectangular window openings adorned by profiled surrounds. The sixth outermost axis from the north is delineated by the porte-fenêtre doorway leading to the balcony. The elevation is crowned with an under-eaves cornice.

Private property. The building can be viewed from outside.

Compiled by Agnieszka Lorenc-Karczewska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Łódź 4 May 2020

Bibliography

• Głowacki K., Urbanistyka Piotrkowa Trybunalskiego, Piotrków Trybunalski – Kielce 1984.
• Kozalski A., Dokumentacja historyczno-architektoniczna VI bloku zabudowy staromiejskiej, typescript, Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Łódź, no data available
• Pietrzak J., Record sheet of monuments of architecture and construction, 1997, Voivodeship Monuments Protection Office in Łódź, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Warsaw