We put the dot over the "i" when next to the old granary a house was erected with a block referring to the Lemkos agile. Because Ropki is a former land of the Lemkos. Once 400 people lived here, today the number of inhabitants does not exceed four dozen. To the valley surrounded by the Hańczowskie Mountains, 10 years ago we brought a fir granary dating back to 1939. We moved it ball after ball from the neighboring village. Today it stands under a linden tree and experiences its second youth here. Then the idea of a guest house came to our minds. The project with a terrace overlooking the greenery and a large window to nature became a reality after 3 years. It has interiors separated by an open hall with space to the very roof, a part with apartments for guests and a kitchen with a common room created for integration. Projects combining wood and steel were carried out in our metalwork workshop in Krakow. In sublime interiors, in contact with art, the senses are relaxed and remain in a state of blissful peace.
Here in the Low Beskids we focus on everyday joy of existence. The basic package: subtle admiration of wild nature, meetings with salamanders on forgotten trails, the view of flocks of sheep moving to the mountains or coming down from grazing and experiencing the traces of the old Lemko world, we decided to expand. We added from ourselves: coffee drunk in the company of a postcard view, meditations in the meadow, books read by the huge window and the warmth of the evening bonfire. All this to restore the lightness of being and delight in everyday life. Because it is the quintessence of rest, for which you come here. That's it, end of the dot.
In one of the valleys of the Hańczowskie Mountains, in the Lemko village of Ropki, surrounded by meadows and trees, a granary from 1939 was first erected. 10 years ago we moved it from the yard of the former owners and created a comfortable and compact two-level house for weekends and holidays. We liked its adaptation and arrangement so much that we also built a large guest house here, where we plan to settle down when we retire.
A granary house made of fir tubs, which stands under a lime tree and is experiencing its second youth with us, has:
– 25 m² and 15 m² of terrace,
– a kitchenette, a sofa bed and a dining area,
– a bathroom with a shower with an original, old granary door,
– space under the stairs with a seat, fridge and storage,
– open mezzanine space with two bedrooms: with 2 single beds above the terrace and a double bed on the other side, connected by a wooden bridge.
It is created for 4 people. We invite you to this space with all pets.
The house, inspired by the Lemko dynasty, which stood next to it, consists of two parts separated by a hall. Its right side is a kitchen combined with a living area (which we call a common room) and my favorite large window overlooking the meadow that changes with the seasons. A place simply created for sitting and immersing yourself in reading. In the common room there are tables with benches and a library with a selection of books and board games. There are 5 guest apartments on the left. Both sides are separated by a hall with an open space reaching the roof, in which I designed stairs made of a single piece of 6-millimeter sheet. There is also a shared toilet downstairs. The house is characterized by glazing that lets in the light and allows nature to look inside. In front there is a large terrace - a space to rest with deckchairs, poufs and swings.
All apartments are open spaces with kitchenettes and bathrooms with showers. In total, we have space for 16 people: three apartments in the attic (2-person, 4-person and 5-person), and two apartments downstairs (2-person and 3-person). With your pets, we cordially invite you to those below.
– Blue Dots in the attic has 42 m² (sleeps 4), a bedroom with a double bed, a bedroom with two single beds, a corner with a work desk and a reading chair.
– Green Dots in the attic is our largest apartment with an area of 52 m² (for 4-5 people) with a bedroom with a double bed, a bedroom with three single beds and a reading corner with an armchair.
– Yellow Dots in the attic have 15 m² and a double bed. They are dedicated to a couple.
– Yellow Dots on the ground floor have 25 m², and a double bed and a sofa bed to sleep on. It is a space for 3 adults or a couple with two small children.
– Pink Dots downstairs has 15 m² and a double bed. They are dedicated to a couple.
It is possible to rent the whole house exclusively.
The interiors are earth tones. We combined wood with a concrete floor and steel. We designed and created all elements in our metalwork workshop. The author of fabric designs and some paintings is our daughter Ksenia, and the other paintings and graphics are the works of our friends and acquaintances. Arrangement is not finished, because building space is a process. We want the space of the house to be pleasing to the eyes and filled with art that soothes the senses.
You will not experience the range with us, but we have an optical fiber that allows you to work in really beautiful natural circumstances.
It is reached by a gravel road with little traffic. On the one hand, we have neighbors, there is the Old Farm.
We have this solution here: in a large house, in the common space, there is a kitchen separated from the dining room by a metal display. I created it myself and filled it with plates, bowls, cups, glasses and glasses, selected especially for this place. There are two large tables with benches in the dining room. In addition, each apartment, as well as in the house-granary, has a kitchenette.
When I am there, I will be happy to prepare breakfast for you. When I'm away, you can go for a few minutes walk across the meadow to Swystowy Orchard. There my friend Grażyna, who infected me with love for her hometown Ropek, prepares vegetarian breakfasts and dinners based on local products and flavors of Lemko cuisine.
You can eat apples from our apple trees, go to the forest for mushrooms and enjoy nuts.
Here, in Ropki, in the western part of the Low Beskids, surrounded by the Hańczowskie Mountains, in the valley of the Ropka stream, you can catch your breath. Calm, deep and in no rush. In our thought-out and lovingly created house, you can relax surrounded by nature that looks into the house through large windows, meets you on the terrace and invites you for walks in the meadow, forests and mountain trails.
Ropki is an old Lemko village with a history of displacement and resettlement. Less than 40 people live here permanently, in the interwar period there were about 300 inhabitants. In this somewhat forgotten, somewhat undiscovered corner of Poland, people from all over Poland found their asylum. Delighted with the beauty of the area and making sure that asphalt does not appear here. Therefore, you will reach us via a gravel road. And on the spot you will be able to grow dolce far niente. The Italian art of sweet idleness can be put into practice here in many ways. You can:
- by sitting, lying or swinging on the terrace, let the beauty of the mountain landscape and meadows framed by forest caress your eyes,
- walk in the meadow or just sit on it,
- go down to the trickle to soak your feet in it.
- read books from cover to cover in front of a huge window, especially in the evenings,
- prepare a bonfire and enjoy the proximity of your favorite people and meet new people if the opportunity arises,
- cook in a shared kitchen and celebrate shared meals,
- play board games at the tables in the common room.
And if you want to explore the area, you must know that it has a lot to offer.
Our guests usually take their first steps to Bieliczna. It is a depopulated village in the valley of the Biała River, where there is a historic Orthodox church. Bieliczna is located at the foot of the northern slopes of Lackowa, so you can go straight to the mountains.
You can look for traces of the old Ropki - visit the Lemko cemetery, see roadside crosses and chapels, the church (the church was transferred in 1978 to the Museum of Folk Architecture in Sanok, where after 20 years it was reassembled and the iconostasis and polychrome were reconstructed), the ruins of the farm buildings belonging to the Breeding Technical School , a small lake on the Ropka stream, where you can sometimes meet a gray heron.
You can set off on the tourist routes that Ropki are entwined with. There are blue, red and yellow trails that lead to the border with Slovakia. We are surrounded by: Ostry Wierch in the south, Siwejka and Biała Skała in the west, Dzielec in the north and Las Bziany in the east. The highest peak in the area is the aforementioned Lackowa (997 m above sea level). Although the hills of the Low Beskids are not spectacular, the way to the peaks is what counts in these mountains. Empty paths, meadows entwined with forests, the sight of morning mists, forgotten villages, hidden relics of the past history of these lands.
We can also boast a Nordic walking path and the Multicultural Cycling Trail. For further trips, you can go to the health resorts of Krynica, Wysowa and Bardejov, one of the oldest towns in Slovakia.
There is a Hucul horse stud in Regietów. You can reach Klimkowskie Lake, where there is a beach and a water equipment rental, in 20 minutes by car. In the winter season, we recommend Smerkowiec or Magura Małastowska as well as numerous cross-country skiing routes.
What’s there for children?
We do not have special attractions for children in K.Ropki, apart from the specialties that nature offers here. Children can get carried away by the endless meadow, enjoy the space, visit the stream below, swing on the swings, hide, run and rest. In the evenings, they can eat treats from the fire. In winter, you can go sledding and make snowman families or walls behind which snowballs are thrown. In autumn, you can go to the forests to pick mushrooms, listen to the ruts and watch the trail. You can also come across the road in spring. And in summer, admire the greenery and who knows, maybe also try your hand at the Bieszczady trails?