Kuncewicz House (Villa “Under the Squirrel”)

The Kuncewicz House in Kazimierz Dolny (say "kah-ZHEE-myesh DOL-ni") is the 1930s timber-and-stone villa where Polish novelist Maria Kuncewiczowa lived and wrote, now a literary museum with its original interiors intact. Known locally as the "Under the Squirrel" villa, it offers a quiet, personal counterpoint to the busy market square and is one of the most atmospheric things to do in Kazimierz Dolny if you enjoy writers' houses, interwar design and stories of exile and return.

Where it is and why it matters

Kazimierz Dolny is a small Renaissance river town on the Vistula in eastern Poland, about 150 km (roughly 2 hours by car) southeast of Warsaw and about an hour west of Lublin. Its historic core is listed as a national Historic Monument, and the town has drawn painters and writers for well over a century.

The villa was completed in 1936 to a design by Karol Siciński, the architect who shaped interwar Kazimierz and later led its postwar rebuilding. It was commissioned by Maria Kuncewiczowa – whose best-known novel, The Stranger, appeared the same year – and her husband Jerzy, a lawyer, writer and politician.

A house that lived through the 20th century

The couple enjoyed their summer home only until September 1939. They spent the war in exile in France and Britain, while the villa was occupied: first by a military doctor, then, in summer 1944, by a Red Army headquarters. Much of the furniture was lost. In the 1940s and 1950s the communist state used it as a children's holiday center for families of security-service employees.

After years abroad, including in the United States near their son Witold, the Kuncewiczes came back to Poland in the early 1960s and recovered the house. Jerzy died in 1984; Maria then lived here year-round until her death in 1989. In 2005 the regional government bought the property for the Vistula River Museum (Muzeum Nadwiślańskie), and Witold donated the furnishings.

What to see

• Rooms arranged as if the owners had just stepped out, with period furniture, books, family photos and archival documents.
• Paintings by artists linked to the town's famous artists' colony.
• Souvenirs from the writer's decades of travel and emigration.
• A traditional Hutsul tiled stove, singled out by the local tourist office as an exceptional piece.
• A garden around the house, at its best from spring to fall.

Plan about 45–60 minutes. Displays are mainly in Polish; English materials are not described on the museum's website, so it is worth asking at the desk.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

• Winter season (Oct 1 – Mar 31): daily except Tuesday, 9 am – 4 pm.
• Summer season (Apr 1 – Sep 30): daily, 10 am – 5 pm.
• Last tickets 30 minutes before closing; closed on Jan 1, Easter Sunday, Nov 1, Nov 11 and Dec 24–25.
• Tickets: 15 PLN regular, 10 PLN reduced, 40 PLN family. One rotating free-admission day per month is announced on mnkd.pl.

How to get there

The address is ul. Małachowskiego 19, about a 10-minute walk from the market square. There is no train station in Kazimierz Dolny: take a train to Puławy and continue by local bus, or drive from Warsaw (about 2 hours). No parking is advertised at the villa itself, so park in one of the town lots and walk.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes, if you want something calmer than the crowded center and enjoy literary history. Combine it with the market square and other branches of the same museum. Note that in 2026 the Korzeniowy Dół ravine is closed until further notice, and the river ferry to Janowiec did not operate this season.