In Dobczyce, a town located in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, at 10 Jagiellońska Street, a beautiful villa stood for years. The building was characterised by the preserved details decorating its façade. Although the building was in need of restoration, its architecture was awe-inspiring among the much simpler neighbouring buildings. The façade of the house exemplified the use of laubzeg ornament, i.e. carvings made with a hair saw, intricately filling the walls of the verandas on the ground floor and on the ground floor, where there was an impressive glazed veranda. Unfortunately, the villa in Dobczyce looks completely different today.
All the valuable features of the building were destroyed a few years ago during a controversial renovation of the house, changing the arrangement of the shuttering boards from vertical to horizontal. The reconstruction was carried out in spite of the fact that the building was entered in the heritage register of the municipality of Dobczyce. Concerned about the whole matter, which has recently reverberated quite loudly in social media, we decided to write to the Dobczyce Municipality and Town Hall and the Voivodship Office for the Protection of Monuments in Krakow. We only received a reply from the WUOZ.
The villa in Dobczyce before renovation. Photo: Google Maps
The Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Kraków has established that the owner of the property at 10 Jagiellońska Street in Dobczyce has not applied for permission from the conservation officer to carry out construction work. In addition, the District Starosty in Myślenice reported that no application for permission to build or rebuild this building had been submitted since 2015. The villa, which is under conservation protection, required notification of the works to the relevant authorities, which was not done. As a result, the Malopolska Voivodship Conservator of Monuments decided to report the possibility of building unauthority to the District Inspectorate of Building Supervision.
The villa before and after renovation. Photo: Google Maps
A fragment of the facade before and now. Photo: Antoni Łapajerski
The penalty that the owner of the building at 10 Jagiellońska Street may face is a fine, rather than a restriction or imprisonment of up to two years as in previous years. However, this is not good news. The fines for such violations can range from as much as 50,000 to as much as one million zlotys.
The veranda before and after renovation. Photo: Antoni Łapajerski
The villa before and after the renovation. Photo: Google Maps and Antoni Łapajerski
We also asked the insurance company operating in the building what drove the owner during the renovation and why he did it without the required approvals. At this point we have not received an answer.
Source: Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Krakow, Antoni Łapajerski
Read also: Architecture in Poland | Facade | Monument | Villas and residences | whiteMAD on Instagram
