A beautiful wooden Polish mountain house, handmade in the traditional style, in the "Pieniny National Park", which is undiscovered by many western tourists. The house is perched above a lake next to two castles (both of which can be visited) - with AMAZING views of different national parks from every bedroom. It is very close to three national parks: Pieniny, Tatra and Gorce. The garden directly borders the Pieniny National Park 'Green Rocks' Reserve. The Pieniny National Park is an undiscovered gem - perhaps the most beautiful national park in Poland, visited primarily by Polish people and far enough away from the tourist crowds in Zakopane to give you an authentic and undisturbed experience of the Polish mountains and the culture there.
The house is detached and has a floor area of more than 200m2 and a large private, and securely fenced, garden for your sole use, with a fresh-vegetable patch, large balcony outside the front room and a fire pit - great for keeping you warm while star gazing.
It is a superb base for walking, climbing, sailing, writing, birdwatching, retreat and family holidays - and a great place just to relax. The closest airports are Krakow (Poland) or Proprad (Slovakia). You can also fly to Katowice (Poland) or Kosice (Slovakia).
The house is on three levels with stairs between each level. The kitchen, dining room, garage and bathroom are on the ground floor. The living room and one bedroom are on the first floor. The two other bedrooms are on the top floor. There are three bedrooms in total: one has a double bed, one has a double bed and a double sofa bed and the third has two single beds. All the rooms have great views and one has a small balcony which is nice for having a long, slow coffee while you watch the morning mist clearing over the lake and castle. Anywhere between one and six people (adults and kids) can stay at the house very comfortably - although there are also double sofa beds in the front room and kitchen if you have extra people (the house can sleep up to 10 if have two people sleeping on each of the sofa beds too).
Some comments from previous visitors include:
"Well that was a wonderful stay in your house - marvellous! Really beautiful house, garden, fruit, walks, mountains everything really! Another thing, is we were really quite taken with the area, it's proximity to the lake and the mountains - as we love swimming in summer and sliding in winter - we saw a couple of plots for sale and were just wondering about prices etc..."
"We had an absolutely fantastic holiday! Thank you so much! What a beautiful country. Had lots of days out and evenings in - great."
"Just to pass on the families thoughts of the trip - They loved it !!! They raved about the house/area and we will all get out there together another time."
"We had a really nice time at the house. It was absolutely perfect, beautiful house, lovely surroundings and we had perfect weather. Once again thanks for the lovely time and if you'll allow us we'll love to stay another time!"
There is a large balcony area outside next to the front room, which is great for barbeques. And a super garden, with a swing (suitable for kids and for slightly drunk adults). We also keep some garden games in the garage, which you are welcome to use. The garden is also great for star-gazing at night: we saw lots of shooting star last summer. There's a vegetable patch and lots of fruit trees, which you can help yourself to if you see that something is ready to eat.
The is a small kitchen and a large dining area, with a large wooden table and benchs. The kitchen/dining area has a traditional Polish wood-burning cooking stove, a new electric oven (that has rings and an oven section), cupboards, a large fridge (with a small freezer compartment) and a large table for preparing food.
The house is decked out in nice mountain-style furnishings. There is one main bathroom (with a bath and shower) downstairs, which has been recently refurbished to a very high standard, and a second toilet upstairs next to the main bedrooms. We provide all the bedding for your stay and towels. However, it is worth noting that we only get these cleaned after you have left - so you will need to be OK about using the same towels and bedding for the length of your stay and/or washing your own bedding and towels if you want them freshened up. There is a washing machine in the gararge, which you are welcome to use - we leave special 'eco-balls' near the machine, so there is no need to get washing powder.
The sewege goes to a septic pit in the garden and then into the ground - so we are careful about what we put down the toilet/sink (ie we try to keep it as eco as possible).
Board games and playing cards are kept in one of the cupboards in the front room. There is also a TV, DVD player and a small selection of DVD films in English and Polish.
Most UK mobile phones work in the house and area.
Full broadband internet access and wifi is available for free in the house. The broadband wifi can be used by multiple teenagers at the same time!
There are child safety gates and a cot available (please tell us in advance if you need this). Overall the house is very child friendly/safe - although we always watch our toddler if he gets near the stairs or stove!
Recommended reading/viewing to get you in the mood for a holiday at our house:
Rose Petal Jam - Recipe and Stories from a Summer in Poland, by Beata Zatorska and Simon Target
The Polish Officer and The Spies of Warsaw, by Alan Furst
Janosik, The True Story, a Film (on DVD) by Agnieszka Holland. Lots of scenes in the local areas and in the local castles.
The house is one of a row of houses in a quiet area in a village called Falsztyn, which is at the edge of the Pieniny National Park. The village has a small store, which is open from 7am to 9pm most days (except Sundays, when it opens nearer 11am). It sells all the basics, such as cheese, eggs, beer, bread and milk etc - although fresh bread is only delivered on week days.
From the house it is possible to take a pleasant walk (about 20 minutes) down to the lake, where you can sun-bathe, picnic and hire a pedaloe. Alternatively, you can walk up into the hills and, after about 1.5 hours walking, reach the 1000m-high peak at Zar, which is surrouned by beautiful mountain pastures where you can take in the views of the much more precipitous Tatra National Park.
Note: people with disabilties will need to consider whether they are OK to use the stairs between each floor of the house.The stairs do not have handrails, although we have stair gates if you are coming with toddlers.