We didn't like Mazovia. We envied Masuria, Warmia, Pomerania and Lower Silesia with post-German buildings. Podlasie - low population density, wooden architecture and shutters. We were looking for a habitat with a house to save, one in a remote area and close to the river. Because one of us loves the most of what is Polish, our wild rivers. We wanted the possibility of quick excursions from Warsaw and this determined the exploration of the vicinity of Warsaw. From the gravel position and the perspective of side roads, we started to see the charms of this land and we became closer and closer. And in the meantime, he showed up. A house from the late 1970s. Not a habitat, but an example of a summer resort development in the People's Republic of Poland, located in a belt from the forest to the Bug River. We came here in winter and it was everything: forest, wild river and no people.
This house, as befits a real communist summer resort, is used for relaxation. It made us nostalgic for the times when we were all younger - as Marcin Wojdak wrote about communist holiday resorts. We went on cheap holidays offering unsublime, but delicious entertainment: romp around the meadow and forest, bird watching, picking berries. Evenings filled with board games and cards and reading books. With the smell of wood and the world's best crackling of twigs burning in a goat in the background. Everything was imperfect and perfect at the same time. That's how we feel in this house with a nostalgic aura. We like consistency, so we gradually arrange it in its native style - summer resorts from the 70s-80s. Some faience, folk art, pine wood of the local forests, Polish linen. Without excess, combined with modernity, because we also like comfort, but we do not like exaggeration. That is why joys are simple here: cooking together, walks to the river with a cup of coffee, proximity, abundance of nature and unhurriedness.
We liked Mazovia. Enjoy them with us.
We are on the Bug River, an hour away from Warsaw. Here, on the Masovian sands, there is a house with the charm of an old summer resort.
On the first floor there are two bedrooms, a smaller and a larger one - each of them has a double bed. Part of a team larger than four people can use the fold-out sofa in the living room. We also have an extra mattress if needed. The house is surrounded by a plot of over 1,500 meters, directly adjacent to the forest.
The ground floor is a spacious living room with windows on three sides, a large kitchen, a bright kitchen with access to the terrace and a toilet. A bathroom with a bathtub and the possibility of taking a shower can be found hidden on the ground floor. As befits a real summer resort in the Polish People's Republic, this house is intended for relaxation. Its heart is a comfortable eggplant sofa, opposite which stands an American Dutchwest goat, hand-renovated. You can light a fire in it on cold or gloomy days (the house is also centrally heated, maintenance-free).
Our favorite summer style from the 1960s to the 1980s reigns here, referring to the origin and architecture of our cottage, as well as to the surroundings of old (largely closed) holiday resorts and their nostalgic charm. We like faience, especially from Włocławek, dug out from family attics and basements and from local sales groups. We also like Polish (but not only) design from the 1950s and 1970s. We have kilims from my mother, a faience chandelier in the kitchen, Bolki armchairs produced for IKEA in the 1980s, on the mezzanine there is a Cepelian kilim with tulips, and in the larger bedroom on the wall there is "The Bear" by Jagna Wróblewska and a poster with a squirrel, photographed by Włodzimierz Puchalski. The patron of this house is Our Lady of Open Cages from the Jasło Icon Studio. You can see the rest of the collection upon arrival.
The house is the outermost in a row of eight identical blocks from the late 1970s and is directly adjacent to a pine forest on one side and a field on the other. Be prepared to be completely alone deep in the forest in the fall and winter season. You reach us through a large forest, partly on a gravel road. The house is several dozen years old and, both inside and out, retains many elements of its original finish - we want it to stay that way. Apart from us and you, spiders live there, the plaster is rougher than in our homes today, the stairs are covered with moss, and the paint on the facade is peeling from the western sun - that's how it is here, you can like this nostalgic charm with us. Vintage charm, not retro.
Our house is perfect for cooking and celebrating meals. On the holidays we remember from childhood, we did everything ourselves. The kitchen in the house is large, bright and well-equipped. There are tables in the kitchen, in the living room, on the terrace and in the garden. You can bake a cake with berries picked 50 meters from home (the equipment includes an oven and a mixer), roast in a cast iron pot (which is also at home and we checked that the caponata comes out perfect in it), grind hummus (there is a blender) or simply put an egg, grill anything in a pan or on the terrace. You can access it directly from the kitchen - during the season it is our main dining room. You can also throw the potatoes into the fire.
We have vintage tablecloths made of natural fabrics, faience and enamels for serving, and mugs from the Milk Bar in Tułowice. The way we drank cocoa, when it was still drunk 20 and 30 years ago. You can brew coffee in a coffee maker, a yellow retro pour-over coffee machine or use manual pour-over methods (there is a manual grinder, dripper, filters, server). We encourage you to drink it by the river, you will reach it in three minutes and the infusion will immediately take on a better aroma.
We planted herbs in the garden for you, which change seasonally. There are mint, thyme, basil, rosemary, oregano, and lovage.
You can visit the Friday market in Wyszków or the Saturday market in Serock. We will whisper in your ear where you can buy the most delicious goat cottage cheese. From us you can go there by bike and at the same time meet the happy goats to whom you owe it. They all have names!
Greenery, flowers, river, forest. Do you need anything more to rest? We want you to have a nice time here, doing nothing, resting in nature, unhurriedly and without any pressure. You can actively do nothing:
– walking through a large pine forest or large flood meadows along the Bug River (wellingtons come in handy!),
– watching birds,
– riding bikes (take them with you!) along the river and buying goat cheese to a nearby friendly farm,
– in winter, celebrate cooking together in a large, bright kitchen with a view of the trees,
– smoking in the goat,
– reading on a sofa, a deckchair, in a hammock or on a large swing in the garden (we have a library well stocked with contemporary literature, and there are also some reports, some books about birds and classics for children),
– solving puzzles and playing board games,
– by lighting a fire on the property or by the river.
House
In the living room there is a table for 6 people, where we provide analog entertainment - we play home and Western hits: Carcasonne, Capital, Tajniaków (the board game set is systematically growing) and canasta or bridge, where we solve puzzles (e.g. "Harmony in Color" Matisse's red) and we think about Scrabble and chess. In summer, we move to the terrace and garden with a swing and deckchairs, where you can get excited by playing boules and badminton.
river
The most important thing here is the river. The wild, crazy Lower Bug River is just a three-minute walk away. 200 meters from the house, a stream flows into it and spreads over the surrounding meadows. A bug we have loved forever. At any time of the day and year - as in Stanisław Baj's painting. It's enough for us to look, but you can also fish or have a picnic. Or rent a boat on the Serocki Reservoir. Where the Bug and Narew become one.
forest
We will tell you about the best walking and cycling trails, provide a map with the route to the abandoned forester's lodge and show you where elks most often roam.
meadow
More precisely, the riparian floodplain of the Bug River, where an oak grows in the shape of a spreading crown resembling a human. We love this moment when the river waters recede enough for us to regain the meadow after winter. In May, however, it is truly amazing. You never come back from a walk in the meadows empty-handed, you always have flowers in them.
birds
One of our favorite natural resources of the area is the birds of the Bug river floodplains. Sometimes we peek and some species visit us. Pheasants were the first birds we saw here. We confirmed the decision to buy a house in early spring, when beautiful males and modest females regularly walked behind the fence in search of food. In the summer season they move further from the houses, but in the early morning hares hop around the field. We have old binoculars that will allow you to distinguish the greenfinch from the blackcap. The first one constantly flies into our kitchen.
We can organize an ornithological and nature walk around the local meadows - we know true enthusiasts of the local riches.
music
This is where we take a break from Netflix, but we couldn't give up music. She sounds good here. There's a good speaker waiting for you at home. A series of albums goes well with your stay with us: For The Birds: The Birdsong Project. We love its classic version, but everyone should relax with what they like best.
Winter
We also love winter here, and perhaps most of all. For peace. Then we are all alone here. We recommend it to you too.
For children and adults, we recommend exploring - we will be happy to organize an ornithological and nature walk with true enthusiasts. The Bug Valley is the kingdom of birds.
You can sit with a laptop at the table in the living room, on the terrace or escape to the bedroom, where there is a large desk, monitor and peace. The company of birds, squirrels and bears - only in the pictures of your favorite artists. Only the chirping of birds is real and relentless - be warned! Internet works flawlessly. We are just over an hour away from Warsaw, so you can quickly go to a business meeting if you need to.
