It includes preserved values of a feature serving as a residential and office building, erected in a corner-notched log structure using local and native materials. It is a rare example of a wooden feature located in situ in the forest, within the area of Kabaty forest district, formerly belonging to the Wilanów estates. Its location within the plot and in the area is also authentic.

History

The Kabacki forest, constituting a part of the former Chojnowskie forests once stretching from the southern borders of Warsaw to Góra Kalwaria, is in historical terms a remnant of the ancient Mazovian primeval forest. Starting from the 17th century, it was part of the Wilanów estate owned by the Sobieski family, and later by the Potocki and Branicki families. In all that time it was used for commercial purposes. However, the grubbing-up on the largest scale took place in the 20th century - during both wars and in the interwar period (95 ha of the tree stands were cleared in the years 1927-1937). Count Adam Branicki sold it in 1938 (at the initiative of Stefan Starzyński) to the Council of the Capital City of Warsaw, with an intention to opening it to public use. As a result of massive clearings of trees in the years 1938-1948, when the forest area reduced by as much as 64%, the grubbing up was given up until 1979 and in 1980 a natural reserve was established.

Buildings related to forest management were located in the Kabacki forest. The most important of them is a forester’s lodge, erected around 1890 and preserved to this day, located within the former Kabaty forest district. It had a dual function - on the one hand, it served as a forester’s accommodation, on the other hand, a part of the building was used as an office (this function has been preserved until now).

Description

The forester’s lodge is located close to the Powsin Escarpment and Powsin municipality, at an eastern edge of the natural reserve “Stefan Starzyński Kabacki Forest”, on an elevated terrain. A multi-building holding is surrounded by a meshed fence, while the forester’s lodge is encircled by a low wooden fence. It is made of wood, in a log structure, covered with horizontal weatherboards, resting on a brick foundation and features a brick annex, plastered on both sides, at the north end. The building was designed on a rectangular floor plan, with verandas on the south and west sides and a secondary annex also on a rectangular floor plan. The interior layout is serial, two-bay and five-axial. The body is compact, has a single storey and a usable attic, covered with a half-hip roof in a rafter-and-collar structure, with a porch on the south side covered with a gable roof. The annexes are covered with shed roofs. All roofs are covered with Eternit.

The façades have a colour of natural wood, with corner joints decoratively covered with vertical, profiled weatherboards. The front façade is symmetrical, while the others are asymmetrical.

The building interior has been redesigned only slightly. Internal walls are plastered and painted with glue paint, the floors are made of boards or cement, the partially enclosed ceiling rests on floor beams. The traditional fire system (tile stoves and kitchens), frame and panel door joinery and frame window joinery have been preserved. Facial stairs lead to the attic.

The building is accessible to visitors only following previous arrangements with the owner.

Author of the note Jerzy Szałygin, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Regional Branch in Warsaw 20-07-2017

Bibliography

• Record sheet of monuments of architecture Leśniczówka, prepared by Lesława Ciach, Warsaw 2010.
• Marionowicz – Szczygieł A., Las Kabacki - 925 hektarów historii, natury i przyjemności..., http://www.haloursynow.pl/artykuly/las-kabacki-925-hektarow-historii-natury-i-przyjem,1576.htm