Some houses are lucky enough to meet the right residents. One of them is the one with number 11 in Pokrzywnik. Stefan and Aneta gave it a new life, and filled its rooms with beauty and love. Lower Silesia is full of unique places, which only confirms the village with this "steaming" name. The name may be steaming, but Aneta and Stefan's house welcomes you with wonderful food and a wonderful atmosphere.
In Pokrzywnik 11, as far as the eye can see, natural materials surround us everywhere - warm wood, linen, stone on the kitchen wall. When you enter the second floor, the staircase creaks gently, reminding you of days gone by. In the morning, after a night spent in linen sheets, it's time to share breakfast with the hosts and other guests - there's nothing more delicious than the warm challah and vegetable spreads that Aneta prepares!And if you take a look at Pokrzywnik at the end of September, maybe you can visit the antique market in Jelenia Gora.
Basia Hyjek: How did your adventure begin?
Stefan Gieysztor: When we met, Anetka and I, it was clear to us that we wanted to be with each other not just for holidays, for a while. Each of us was at a special, different moment in life, but we really wanted to spend it together. From the moment we met, we were already thinking about looking for an activity together. Anetka had just finished her studies and I was reporting from the set of Roman Polanski's "The Pianist." Anetka had been working in Jelenia Gora for several years, and I occasionally wrote texts for interior design monthly magazines. A year later, after our wedding, we completed the final formalities of our new status. Anetka, being employed at the Tourist Information Office, was classified as a "clerk," I, when asked about my profession, answered - a writer, which the protocol officer greeted unequivocally - "non-profit."
From right: the summer kitchen. From left: Una on the steps of the house
Photo: Aneta Gieysztor
In fact, although I had two modest book publications in my so-called writing output, there was zero gold in my bank account. A dozen years earlier I had bought a house with a view of Sněžka with a borrowed thousand dollars, but in addition to this I still had an apartment in Warsaw. Being torn between being in the country or in the city was not conducive to a harmonious life, especially for two. The house in Pokrzywnik was my refuge and now our joint property. When I bought it, my dream was not only to use it for myself, but to share it with others, to make it an oasis of peace for those close to me as well, or rather, for those who needed it. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life alone with myself, locked in an ivory tower. Our friends from Warsaw, who unexpectedly visited us in the "old" Pokrzywnik, were of a similar opinion. Concerned about my "unprofitable" profession, they immediately suggested the simplest solution to financial problems, that we should organize an agritourism in our house. This way we will live together - Anetka and I, at each other's place, use the house similarly to guests, so the whole thing will earn for itself and for our upkeep.
Basia: What happened next?
Stefan: A year later I wrote on a piece of paper my first and probably my best business plan. I contrasted Warsaw with Pokrzywnik. Out of twelve points, Pokrzywnik scored 9. It was like being hit in the head with a shoe. At the first moment when I saw this result, I found it hard to believe, although the numbers shone clearly in black and white. We repeated the whole operation, several times. Each time the result was the same. Suddenly our future took on a real weight. A decision had to be made. Fortunately, we did not think long. I sold my apartment in Warsaw. We don't know by what miracle we hit the best moment, when the real estate boom was the best, which we had no idea about before. We invested all the money in renovating a house in the countryside. Anetka worked in an office in Jelenia Gora and took care of the formalities, while I took care of the remodeling project and the detailed architectural plan.
Aneta and Stefan's kitchen
Photo: Aneta Gieysztor
Basia: How was the whole process of building the "new" Pokrzywnik?
Stefan: It was unusual that a house designed a century earlier, now a century later, was prompting me what I should do with it, how to use its body to achieve the best effect. All I had to do was listen to what it was prompting. Creating a new space gave me a special pleasure. All that remained of the old fabric were the walls, the basement and the ceiling in the stable, which I redesigned into a dining room with a kitchen. We wanted the house to be healthy and built with natural materials, not cheap artificial chemicals. So the floors are beech, the plaster is limestone, the tile is plain tile, only the sockets, electrical switches and the whole installation are plastic, but not visible after all.
Identical is the furnishings of the rooms, there is no new fashionable furniture in our house. Over the years in the barn accumulated a lot of various beds, closets, cabinets, chairs and other trinkets. All this, in the natural course of things, found its way home, cleaned, washed and repaired.
One of the rooms
Photo by Aneta Gieysztor
Basia: Such an old house surely hid many secrets, treasures and surprises?
Stefan: We both have identical tastes, so decorating the interior was a pleasure. The rooms don't look the same. Each is different, including in size, and is named after the type of wood the furniture is made of. They are partially decorated with fragments of treasure discovered under the floor on the first floor. One of the napkins found in the bundle has the initial "AS" embroidered a century ago, identical to the first letters of our names. We both felt as if this delicate matter had been waiting for us and was now thanking us for saving it. It was a sign from home, its consent to our presence in it and all the beings close to us.
