Paderewski Manor, Kąśna Dolna

On a hill above the Biała river, opposite Ciężkowice, stands a white manor house with a columned porch – Ignacy Jan Paderewski's only home in Poland. The pianist and prime minister bought it in 1897, and his original Petrof piano now stands in the neo-Rococo drawing room. How that instrument came back to Kąśna is one of the best stories in the region: it was paid for with a colour television.

History

The single-storey brick manor was built in 1833 by the village owner, Paweł Gostkowski. In 1897 Paderewski's agent, Stanisław Roszkowski, bought the estate from Barbara Jordan Stojowska, née Gostkowska. The remodelling took two years, with the master joiner Bolesław Rzeszutko involved. Paderewski stayed here from time to time, but because of the running costs he decided to live elsewhere. In 1903 the estate was bought by Włodzimierz and Zofia Kodrębski, and later by landowner Stanisław Nowak.

After 1945 the manor was nationalised and housed a fruit-processing office, a school and a holiday centre, while the building decayed. In 1979 the Tarnów Music Society took it over, restored the manor and park and began collecting Paderewski memorabilia. Concerts have been held here since 1983, and since 1998 the manor has been run by the Paderewski Centre Tarnów–Kąśna Dolna.

A piano for a television

The Petrof piano that Paderewski played in Kąśna was tracked down in Warsaw by Dr Franciszek Pulit of Tarnów. It belonged to Krystyna Barbacka, born in Kąśna in 1903, the daughter of Włodzimierz Kodrębski; her brother was Paderewski's godson. The purchase was funded by the regional authorities in Tarnów, and payment – at the owner's request – was a colour television, a luxury item that was hard to obtain in communist Poland.

What to see

• The neo-Rococo drawing room with the Petrof piano and furniture from Antonín Hrabák's factory in Kutná Hora and from Wojciechów, Poland's oldest bentwood furniture factory.
• The Master's Study and Helena Paderewska's bedroom, furnished with items from the National Museum in Warsaw.
• Personal mementoes: his book collection, travelling trunks and a 19th-century stool-shaped toilet with a ceramic bowl.
• The Fazioli piano in the hall – a 1996 gift from Swiss professor Urs Ruchti, played by outstanding pianists ever since.
• The 16-hectare park, laid out around 1800, with avenues of lime, oak and elm and a pond with an island.

Tripto tip

The manor is open Tuesday to Friday 9:00–15:00, and at weekends 12:00–18:00 or 9:00–15:00 depending on the season; closed on Mondays. Tickets cost PLN 12 (reduced PLN 10) and a visit takes about an hour. The park is open daily 7:00–21:00. Tours may be suspended on concert and event days, so check the calendar on the Centre's website. The manor lies on the other bank of the Biała, a few minutes' drive from the square in Ciężkowice – combine your visit with the Petrified City, where one of the rocks bears Paderewski's name.