Although the words of the song about sweet dreams fall on the lips (from French la bouche), it is not the band popular in the 90s that our habitat owes its name to. The story leads first to 17th-century France. It was from it that he escaped from the religious persecution of Gottlieb Labusch's great-grandfather. He found shelter in the lands of East Prussia. In 1860, Gottlieb was born, Bogumił Labusz in Polish, the key figure of this story. Years later, he was called a Masurian general, because he devoted his entire life to fighting for the Polishness of the region. He defended the rights of Masurian peasants, founded reading rooms, agricultural clubs, newspapers and a bank that functions to this day. And he lived in a village called Hozembark. It is in vain to look for it on contemporary maps. In honor of the general, it was renamed Labuszewo after World War II. Not so much later, we started to write a small chapter of Labuszewo history. We ended our mission of finding a piece of land for planting conifers in a lush meadow. It is located roughly in the middle between Olsztyn and Mrągowo. We bought it together with a house from 1902, which was not treated kindly by fate. Treated with tenderness, it became a cozy hiding place that we wanted to share.
At the beginning, a challenge awaits you. You can hardly see the house from the road and you have to spot it among the bushes and trees. However, when you get there, there will be no more power trials waiting for you. Everything we have here is clearly visible: an endless meadow for barefoot walking on it, a peat pond with a bridge to delight in nature, a porch for feasts that extend deep into the night. And a house for two, four or six people close to each other. You can look in the same direction from many places. However, it is not a blue distance, but in the seasonal colors of the meadow.
Inside a house from 1902, located in the colony of the village of Labuszewo. It is surrounded by greenery and is so hidden that it is almost invisible from the road. You just have to know it is here to find it. It stands on 7000 m² of meadows (the plot is not fenced). There is only green here as far as the eye can see. We are surrounded by even more meadows and farmland, where a tractor sometimes appears.
Before the house came into our hands, it partially lost its former splendor. And we know that it used to be part of a 13-hectare farm, from which it has been left today, and a charming cowshed facing it. We have partially managed to restore its former character, using historical elements, referring to the old ones with new ones and using hand-made woodwork.
The house is 80 m² in size and contains:
- a bedroom with a double bed,
- a bedroom with two single beds,
- a living room with a fold-out corner and a fireplace, connected with a kitchenette and a dining room,
- a bathroom with a bathtub overlooking the meadows,
- a large porch with a table and wide benches.
Lots of cozy accessories, old-time pottery and candles to light up in the evenings.
6 people can sleep in the house, including two on a fold-out corner in the living room.
We wanted to restore the Masurian character of this house based on local materials found, for example, in a cowshed. We managed to recreate the passwords, old boards and bricks from the disassembled barn we turned into a half-timbered wall in the bedroom. We used what there is to refer to the old interior, recreating or styling it to resemble the old solutions.
We have no neighbors in sight, their houses are obscured by trees (approx. 100 m in a straight line to the nearest neighbor). The last 1,500 meters reach us via a dirt road. All this makes us the perfect Masurian hideout for those who are looking for a soothing silence. We remain at the opposite extreme to the tourist climate of larger Masurian towns.
When we are here, we like to celebrate our meals. Even if they are the simplest, we like to serve them with wild flowers and lighted candles. In the kitchen there is an original, old sideboard in which we have collected a large collection of various dishes for you, so that each meal can become a reason to celebrate. You can serve it at the dining room table or on the porch, enjoying the view of nature.
We have prepared a kitchenette for you with everything that may be useful for cooking. There is also a barbecue and a place for a bonfire that you can light as part of the bond.
Here we have an undulating moraine landscape, decorated with meadows, interspersed with fields and in the vicinity of forests. The environment itself is exceptionally soothing, you can immerse yourself in it and stay close to nature throughout your stay. Often, once he gets to us, he doesn't want to move from here at all. We are not surprised at this reluctance, because the delight of this place, which we feel ourselves, made us want to share it. And we have plenty of space, because 7000 m². Including a meadow and its own peat pond. You can meet runaway cows that come to us from the neighbor's field to drink water. About a kilometer behind our house runs the border of Warmia and Mazury.
You can go ahead here:
– immerse your body in the peat pond mentioned above, if you like the charms of the peat bog – the water is velvety, but a bit dirty on the skin, but it has healing and relaxing properties (there is a large bridge over the pond),
– swing in a hammock and let your thoughts wander in the clouds,
- read books on a lounger,
– practice yoga on the grass,
– meditate or drink coffee on the pier over the pond,
– in the evenings, warm yourself by the fireplace, sitting under a blanket in the cozy interior of an old house,
- enjoy time together at dinners on the porch and evening bonfires,
– enjoy the view of stars in a space where there are no strong light sources at dusk.
However, if you decide to venture into the unknown, the area has a lot to offer. On the nearest and a little further one, you can wander around for hours without meeting another person. You can find elk, roe deer and billy goats. In September, you can hear the rutting taking place in the surrounding forests.
Lake Raszag is less than 3 km across meadows, 4 km if you decide to go along the road. There is a pier with a beach and equipment rental. A little further (about 7 km) there is Rzeckie Lake.
In the area of the former Dymer Lake, which has been drained, there is the Łąki Dymerskie backwater, a complex of meadows covered with reeds, which have now turned into swamps, with an area of 300 ha. It is an ecological site, which is located approx. 900 m in a straight line from the house. More than 100 species of birds live there, including very rare specimens. Cranes fly overhead very often (there is a gathering place of these birds in the pool), once I spotted a white-tailed eagle perched on a birch next to the house.
The area, although full of hills and sometimes demanding, is strewn with two-wheel routes. The bicycle route leading from Szczytno to Dźwierzutka is 23 km long and 2 m wide. You can also go for a ride along the former railway track leading through forests, fields and ravines, over 30 km long. The nearby Pasym, Wielbark Forest District, have their own routes, we also have MTB paths for mountain bikes, look for them under the heading: Szczytno MTB Trails.
You will have less than 10 km to the charming Biskupiec. And there is the Gothic spatial layout of the city remembering the Middle Ages, a church with an observation tower and the largest collection of cameras in Poland in the Sorboma Creative Work House.
For art lovers, the Vita gallery in Jeziorany, where you can admire: painting, textiles, ceramics and even furniture from Warmia and Mazury. This is a place to buy books, maps and souvenirs and have a coffee. In the summer season, the gallery participates in the eco market on the market square in Jeziorany and organizes numerous events there (the market takes place every Saturday from May to September). From June to August, Pasym and Dźwierzuty, which is closer to us, invite you to concerts as part of the Pasym Organ and Chamber Music Concerts.
Tumiany, remember this name if you dream of kayaking. You can rent equipment for the trip at the campsite there. You can go rafting on the surrounding lakes and rivers, and choose the routes according to the degree of difficulty.
A bit further (50 km from us) in Ruś you can go skiing on the Kartasiówka ski slope in the season.
