If you are looking for a place where it will be completely dark outside in the middle of the night and the only light will be the lunar light, Manikachtaki are the right choice. They owe their graceful name to Manuela - the teenage daughter of Dominika Bartkowska, who owns the cottages. The choice fell on Ropki for a reason. It is one of the most beautiful places in the region, as evidenced by the number of houses and rooms for rent.
Manichatki is three cottages, one of which belongs to the owner and is not available to guests. He and Owl's Hut, the smaller of the cottages, were designed by Dominika Bartkowska herself. None of them exceeds 35 m². The large house is Chatka Mani - the initial design was made by architect Tomasz Markowicz, later Ms. Dominika made changes, most importantly to include a conservatory. Chatka Owl takes its name from the bird carved in wood located in the roof finial. It may seem that the buildings have been standing here for a very long time. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Basia Hyjek: How did it all start, why exactly Ropki?
Dominika Bartkowska: It started, as it usually happens with crazy ideas, quite unexpectedly. I've spent my entire adult life in big cities, mostly in my hometown of Krakow, but there were other places in Poland and France along the way - always big metropolises. A few years ago I was on a trip in the mountains, near Babia Gora, and there I suddenly got the idea to leave my current life, buy land somewhere at the end of the world and create a place of peace and quiet for myself, my daughter Manuela and anyone tired of the city rush who wanted to come to me.
And so I started looking for suitable land, but neither in the Babia Góra area, nor in the Jura Krakowsko-Czestochowska, because that's where I looked, I couldn't find anything that met my expectations. I wanted it to be a little empty, a little wild, with a beautiful view and without numerous buildings around. Already a little tired of searching to no avail, I decided to go for a little rest in the Beskid Niski - that's how I ended up in Ropki.
Manichatki
Photo: Adela Uchmanska
Here my memories of early childhood were revived. As a little girl I had a nanny, who came from Florynka - it's a village about. 15 km, to which she often took me. At that time I lived in an old wooden hut, shared space with the animals, who, as in traditional Lemko huts, lived under one roof with the people. I lived the simple life of the local people and was happiest then.
The Beskid Niski was apparently written to me from an early age, because I really feel comfortable here. Of course, it wasn't easy to find a plot of land, and it took another year before I bought the land, or rather, the land found me, and so one October day I became the owner of a beautiful meadow, where there was nothing but autumn grass, dried out after the summer.
Basia: Where did you get the idea to build houses out of old wood?
Dominika: I knew from the very beginning that I would build houses out of wood. Wood has always been and still is my favorite material, there is life in it, it is wonderful, warm to the touch, breathes, changes under different conditions. Besides, in this land, houses have always been built of wood, I could not imagine that I could break this tradition. There is also in me a passion for everything old - since my youth I have been collecting century-old furniture, porcelain.
Out of the combination of these sentiments came the fact that I decided to buy an old shack, dismantle it and use the material to build houses, because it's not only wood, but also old stone, bricks and tiles. I tried to save everything I could. There is also something much more important than the material itself - the soul of the house, the memories of the people who used to live in it, the tradition. The fact that I built houses from the old Lemko khyzha is, for me, a kind of thanksgiving to those who lived here before, and whom fate and history cruelly treated.
Manichatki
photo by Adela Uchmanska
Basia: What was your inspiration in choosing colors and materials?
Dominika: The dominant colors in my houses were somehow imposed by the materials I used to build them. It is the dark brown of oil-impregnated wood - a tradition of local construction that I wanted to respect. The elements of the new wood are light, because I left those raw and did not protect them with anything. I wanted it to be as natural as possible. The faded red of the old brick and the stronger recycled tiles, and finally the distinctive mint-colored window and door frames.... I wanted the houses to be cohesive and to be linked by certain repetitive elements. This mint color is one of my favorites, and since it additionally blends beautifully with dark wood, it came out quite a successful combination.
Of course, you also can't forget about glass, which is not lacking in Manichatki - there are fully glazed shower stalls in the bathrooms, which don't obscure the structure of the old boards, and large glazing in the cottages. If one builds houses in such a beautiful place as the Beskid Niski, it would be a shame not to make large windows through which one can admire these views at any time of day, from any side of the world and in any weather. Hence the idea to build an orangery, a nursery room with a fireplace, which, especially in winter and on colder days, gives the impression of being in the heart of nature, even though it's cold outside, snow is falling or the wind is blowing.
Basia: There are beautiful sculptures everywhere.
Dominika: I really wanted a shrine with a Sorrowful Christ at the entrance to my habitat - it's also part of the local tradition. I was looking for someone to make such a sculpture for me. Someone referred me to a local artist, Mr. Jan Swies. He made the first sculpture and that's how our cooperation began, which I hope will result in many more works. My favorite is undoubtedly the figure of the she-wolf that guards the house where I live, but there is also an owl hanging over the window of the Mani Owl Cottage. There are figures of a man and a woman smiling at Guests sitting in the conservatory, and there is also a figure of the Sorrowful Christ in each house - just in case.... I still have ideas for the next ones - maybe in the summer you can admire more wonders of Mr. John?
Manichats
Photo: Adela Uchmanska
Basia: What do you have in your plans?
Dominika: In the last three years, three houses and a trash dump of exquisite beauty were built, I turned a wild meadow into a habitat, Guests come, fill the houses with life, laughter and gratitude. I have completed the plan and feel a little tired, I need a moment of rest to fully enjoy what I have created.
I have a dream, because, after all, you can't fully live without dreams, to someday build a bigger house for myself, my relatives and friends, with a big kitchen, a wood-burning stove, a bread oven and a shabbier, with a veranda and mint windows. It will be a house built of old logs, of course!
