Slow down, turn off the air conditioning, open the windows and let the world in. There is no sense in rushing because, in Dom nad Wierzbami (House by the Willows), the rhythm of life is determined by the age-old laws of nature. The kitchen clanking and conversations in the living room intertwine with the sounds coming from the Bug River jungle. You can hear birds singing, frogs croaking, roosters crowing, village dogs barking in the evening. But also the sound of threshing machines in summer or saws cutting wood in early spring.
In January and February, the House by the Willows is like a bear in a cave. Warm, quiet, because there are not many guests. Only the cats and the dog, demanding attention and caresses, enliven the deep silence. And from outside the window, over the backwater, you can hear the steady flapping of swans' wings and sometimes a heron's cry. Then we miss the joyful bustle during meals and evening gatherings. But soon, you can feel the breath of spring, and then the river comes to life. An otter appears in the sparkling water from the sun, and the cows on the Bug River wander the river like the sacred waters of the Nile.
Come for a walk at dawn accompanied by a cat, the smell of bread in the morning, fresh fish on your plate and fafernuchy for dessert. We will host you like in a family home - you are welcome, important and awaited here.
Our house is your home. With all its advantages and disadvantages, rules and charms. The smell of wood and the creaking of floors, mosquitoes and the alarm clock in the form of bird concerts and cows' brays. The aromas from the kitchen float in the interiors, the works of our painter friends hang on the walls, and the cats and dog occupy the sofas. It is a house filled with warmth and history built from hundred-year-old logs, which found its new home in the wilderness of the Bug River.
In the old house we have 5 rooms with balconies and a view of the river for a total of 11 people. One 3-person room and four 2-person rooms. The rooms in this house have 2 shared bathrooms. When you need socialization and a moment by the fireplace, we invite you to the cozy living room and the large terrace with a view of the garden.
In 2014, we completed the construction of a new building, which we called the Gray House. It is a modernly furnished space where you can relax, integrate, take advantage of a wide range of workshops, trainings, educational, dance and meditation classes, including yoga, and meet socially.
The Grey House has a 40-meter room with mirrors, equipped with multimedia devices, with an extensive view of the meadows and the Bug River floodplains and a terrace. There is a separate kitchen and two rooms with bathrooms on the first floor. One of these rooms has a large balcony facing the river, the window of the other overlooks the orchard.
We provide towels on request. We change them once every 5 days (more often on request).
In our house we accept adults and children over 12 years of age.
We inform allergy sufferers that animals are members of our family. We have a dog named Synek and 5 cats: Fiona, Bąbel, Rysiek and two gingers - Józia and Rysia. We must inform dog lovers with regret that our Son does not tolerate other dogs on his premises. In a situation where we have a lot of our own animals, we invite you without your favorites.
We know a lot about ecology and for many years we have been trying to live and host without harming the environment:
- We segregate waste and encourage you to follow in our footsteps.
- We do not use chemical cleaning agents or plant protection products at home or on the farm.
- We feed you as we feed ourselves - we use mostly products produced traditionally and ecologically by ourselves and local manufacturers and fair trade.
- We use solar panels and photovoltaics, we use energy-saving light bulbs. We try to remember to turn off devices. We do not iron bed linen and towels.
- We limit water consumption. - Do not buy water in the store: we have exceptionally tasty tap water.
Kitchen is a topic for me. Wide, deep and convoluted like the Bug itself. I love to treat, experiment, discover old recipes and regional flavors. I use local, traditionally produced products to prepare meals. I pay attention to whether they are ecological and fair trade. I bake bread and cakes myself, and process vegetables, mushrooms and fruit. This is how jams, preserves, juices, pickles and other marinades are made, as well as wild fruit seasonings for vodka, the famous Bella Rosa hawthorn wine, Bello Nero from chokeberry and elderberry, and pear cider. Everything without E additives, artificial colors and flavor enhancers. I want to feed you and treat you with something really good. Polish cuisine, with a regional advantage, also vegetarian. Do not be surprised when we sit down to the table with you - we eat together, as in a family home.
From this year on, we serve mainly breakfasts, but as always with us, rich. The table bends under Korycin and goat cheeses, local cold cuts, country eggs, seasonal vegetables, homemade bread and unusual jams. For this tea from herbs harvested in summer and delicious coffee. We will also prepare a dinner for workshop / training groups.
Since our house is located in the vicinity of Biała Kurpiowszczyzna and the cultural influences of this land have reached our village, we also serve regional delicacies. Therefore, when we have enough strength, we will make broth of suckling sheep, whitened fish soup, dumplings with goat cheese and fenugreek, and unique dumplings for you. I will not reveal everything, because the element of surprise on the menu is the most desirable thing. Come and get fed.
For an additional fee, you can use a separate, fully equipped kitchen.
I invite you to come home for relationships, simple fun, happy faces and bliss from the threshold. There is no need to fill the calendar with attractions, time flows along the natural course of the river, seasons and flowering. Wild Bug and backwaters, kayaks, canoes, bicycles, wading and fishing - a bit like in a fairy tale or in a series about good life and good people. We are not bored, because nature offers variety. You can sit on the terrace and observe a different panorama of the Lower Bug Valley at any time of the year. We will be happy to accompany you with the tincture, wine of our own production and stories that we have collected a lot.
In spring, the river swells, flooding coastal meadows and islands (sometimes reaching the fence of the plot), then retreats, revealing sandy shoals in summer, perfect for lazy sunbathing and swimming. River arms, meanders, islands and peninsulas form a labyrinth that is an oasis for fish and water birds, as if created to be explored from a kayak or boat, with a fishing rod or a camera. And in winter? After a walk or cross-country skiing in the snowy meadows, you can hide in the quiet of a room with a good book, or go down to the living room, sit near a burning fireplace with a cat on your lap and a glass of wine in your hand and listen to the silence.
We have 2 kayaks, canoes and bicycles ready for you - all in place.
We could talk for hours about the flora and fauna of our surroundings. A riparian forest, that is, the wild jungle of the Bug River, the mud and water birds living in its depths, binoculars and all day long. We invite you to go on micro-nature trips around the Bug backwaters by canoes and guided boats, as well as on educational trips around the Natura 2000 area Dolina Dolnego Bugu.
In the evening, when the air is vibrating with the sounds of insects, birds and cats purring, and the sun is turning red, it's time to relax. By the fire, on the terrace with a book or in a herbal bath in a bathtub by the pool. This is how you have to live.
We share what we have the best, so feel free to join us in the kitchen. We organize culinary workshops and discover the secrets of old, regional recipes. Together, we will make preserves of fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, and maybe even we can make dumplings.
Our Jackowo Dolne is not only a river, there are also beautiful forests within walking distance - Popowski (4 km) and Somiankowski (2 km). The road to them leads through Barcice, a village founded in the 13th century, in the center of which is one of the most valuable sacred monuments of Mazovia - a wooden baroque church from 1758. In the village, you can still see a dozen or so wooden Kurpie cottages, located on a high slope above the river.
Another attractive destination for a bicycle trip may be Pułtusk, located in the north. The road to it may lead along the Bug and the embankment crown along the Narew River, passing the marshy bird reserve Stawinoga on the way. The highlight of the escapade may be visiting Pułtusk, where there is a charming and somewhat forgotten market square and a picturesque Bishop's Castle towering over the Narew River.
We have rules that are there for you to do your best. We respect the silence, peace, silence and carefree of adults during their free time. That is why in our agritourism we only accept adults on a daily basis.
Family celebrations are an exception to the rule. Then we open our door for the little ones who feel like fish in the Bug, cows in the meadow and cats on the couch - that is, on the spot. Then we take them on micro-nature trips, organize guided educational tours and give them complete freedom to go crazy. Usually, however, they spend their days outside, playing with the cats, building structures with sticks, and counting the cows grazing on the other side of the pool. They will eat quickly and fly back to the yard, because there are things and errands there. Live not die.
We have a 40-meter room with four tables that can be connected with additional inserts, and with access to the terrace. 3-4 people can work at a single table. Here, too, no one will disturb the working guests, because the place is far from the main house. The only obstacle may be the barking dogs of the neighbors and periodically gagging geese, but that's the charm of the place.
Currently, 2 rooms in the Gray House have been adapted to remote work. In the first there is a fold-out desk for one person, and in the second for two.
The old house does not have the conditions for working in the common space, but some guests were working in headphones at the dining table and said it was ok. The most popular place to work remotely is the huge table on the terrace next to the old house.
