The Gąsienica Sobczak family wooden house, situated at 6, Droga do Rojów in Zakopane, is one of the most precious historical folk buildings in Zakopane. In the house, which now belongs to the Tatra Museum, a permanent exhibition is planned to present the interior of a wooden Highlander house from the end of the 19th century.
The Gąsienica Sobczak family wooden house, situated at 6, Droga do Rojów in Zakopane, is one of the most precious historical folk buildings in Zakopane. The oldest part of the house, 'the white chamber', was built by Joachim Gąsienica Sobczak 'Jochym' around 1830. His son Jan gradually extended it and added 'the black chamber', two larders and a porch. One of its subsequent owners, Stanisław Gąsienica Sobczak „Johym” (1884–1942), was a sculptor and ceramist, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts and a member of "The Art of the Podhale Region" society. During the interwar period he ran a ceramics studio on Kościeliska Street and devoted himself to ceramics, which was unusual in the Podhale region at that time. His studio on Kościeliska Street became a meeting place for some outstanding artists, such as Leon Chwistek, Mieczysław Szczuka, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz among others.
In the house, which now belongs to the Tatra Museum, a permanent exhibition is planned to present the interior of a wooden Highlander house from the end of the 19th century. The display will allow us to understand how Highlander architecture and crafts influenced the work of Stanisław Witkiewicz, creator of the Zakopane Style. The ethnographic collection to be on display in the Gąsienica Sobczak family wooden house was an integral part of the inspiration behind the Zakopane-style movement, and the construction of the nearby Koliba villa, which was the first house in the Zakopane Style designed by Stanisław Witkiewicz.
This year, the building conservation, renovation and adaptation have been made possible thanks to a grant awarded by the Marshal Office of the Małopolska Region, southern Poland. The opening of the display is scheduled for July 2009. The idea of the museum being displayed in the former Gąsienica Sobczak family wooden house has received a great deal of interest among the Polish community in the United States. The editors of the Polish community magazine Tatrzański Orzeł [The Tatra Eagle] have organized the collection of funds, which will be allocated for furnishing the interior.
Anna Kozak
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The house before the renovation
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The house after the renovation
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Highlander tradition
of washing the walls
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Reconstruction of the stove
in the black chamber
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