The idea to create such a place in Podlasie, which would become an alternative to the rushing world, came to me when I started to explore the world. Several years of travelling to various parts of the globe taught me how to open up to people but it also made me realise that the city imposes on us a dizzying pace that turns everyday life into a big rush and it was hard for me to find myself.
These experiences awakened in me a desire to have a place on earth that will be governed by its own laws as if it exists in parallel to a speeding world. Fortunately, I was not alone in this thinking and was strongly supported by my spouse. That's how one beautiful evening by the setting sun, sitting on the cliffs of one of Sydney's beaches, we decided to do it! We moved our belongings into boxes, packed ourselves and little Leonek in several hand-made suitcases, and headed to Podlasie. After a few months, we stuck a shovel into the foundation of the house, which is now open to our guests. It's nice, it's good, it's kind of outside the world. You can relax in silence, you can breathe fresh, fragrant air, see the sky covered with stars on a dark night, you can eat well. We invite you to Siedlisko so that you can experience it first-hand.
Siedlisko Soce is a house in the middle of the forest, right next to the village of Soce. We can boast of less than 3 ha of secluded land in Podlasie Wygwizdów.
There is a log house here, in which we have four rooms to offer you, and in them 12 beds in any combination. In three rooms there are bathrooms with showers and toilets. One room has its own private bathroom, but the entrance to it is from the corridor.
The arrangement of beds in the individual rooms is as follows:
1-family room with bathroom - one double (160×200), one single (80×200) and a fold-out armchair with a comfortable mattress
2-blackberry with bathroom - one double (can be set up into two singles), one single
3-birch with bathroom - one double (160×200), one single (80×180 cm long)
4-double with bathroom with entrance from the corridor - double bed (160×200), which can be set up into two singles
Each guest will receive towels from us for the duration of their stay. The guest rooms are located on the first floor.
We - the hosts - live on the ground floor.
The attic of the house, from which there is a beautiful view of the forest, has been equipped with a fully functional kitchenette (without an oven), dining room and lounge area.
Walking through the forest, sometimes for mushrooms, sometimes without a destination, we come to a place designated for a bonfire and a barbecue shelter, and then to a fenced pond - ideal for lovers of both summer and winter bathing. Here you can sit on a pier and cast a fishing rod. We also provide a boat for our guests.
We built a house with a sauna by the pond, for which we created a separate profile Domek nad Stawem w Siedlisku Soce and it is there that you will find detailed information about it.
We offer all our guests breakfasts, which are prepared by me from regional products, our own preserves and baked goods. A typical homestead breakfast consists of a board of regional cheeses, vegetables and fruits from our own garden (in season), preserves from our cellar, various types of spreads and pastes, as well as breads and buns baked with great passion at night, when all the guests are fast asleep.
You will always find something warm on the table. Sometimes it will be classic scrambled eggs in butter, other times pancakes with apples, sometimes an omelette or porridge, and sometimes potato pancakes or shakshuka, which has become a flagship breakfast dish, for which many have already returned to us.
We tend to avoid meat, but sometimes our parents' products or those from the local smokehouse appear on the table.
For lunches and dinners, I recommend visiting local restaurants, which you can encounter on your way when exploring Podlasie. If, however, you don't feel like leaving the Siedlisko, there is a kitchen in the attic where you can cook something.
Coffee and tea are available to all guests.
Siedlisko Soce is located on the edge of a village belonging to the route of the Land of Open Shutters, which includes the three villages of Puchły, Soce and Trześcianka. Wooden houses and churches along the route attract with their unique ornaments and decorations, unique on a national scale. The village of Soce consists of two streets separated by the Rudnia River. This two-street layout of the village is so unusual that it is under the patronage of the conservator of monuments. Each part of the village has its common street name - in the north it is Suchlany, in the south - Mokrany. Walking from Siedlisko to the village of Soce (approx. 500m), it is worth visiting the Soce Village Museum.
In addition to the villages belonging to the trail, it is worth seeing other villages located in the Narew valley - Ciełuszko, Kaniuka, Pawła and those on the other side of the river - Koźliki or Kaczała.
About 18 km from Siedlisko there is Skit w Odrynki - a hermitage of an Orthodox religious community located in the backwaters of the Narew River. A very nice bike trip.
While in Siedlisko, it is worth going to the Białowieża Primeval Forest, Supraśl or the Tartar trail to Krynki, Bohoniki and Kruszyniany.
What’s there for children?
Our children run in the woods, look for cones and sticks, then organize battles with the use of prey, or make people and all kinds of structures out of them. Our sons Leon and Julek have spots here where they are happy to take their child guests.
Near the house there is Leon's Mountain and it makes the younger generation run up and down, or slide down the sand on their bottoms. Children's creativity is limited only by the parents' watchful eyesight. We also have a traditional slide, which is moved to the pond in summer, because going down into the water is more fun. There are swings, there is a trampoline, lots of sand. And this pond - real madness on summer days.
