Grażyna Hryncewicz-Lamber: So, tell
GHL: The previous investor?
partially not preserved partition walls
me, please, what did you find there? I
TB: Yes, the previous one. He changed
in the kitchen.
can’t easily picture what the building
the windows to brown ones with gold
TB: Not preserved... When it comes to
looked like when the owners, who
mullions. But the house was soaking
the practical functions we have preserved
were also project investors, bought
wet from top to bottom and it all came
them all: apart from in the kitchen when
it. Is it true that the previous owner
up from the basement. It was all very
somebody simply removed the servant's
overhauled the place and you had to
damp: uninhabitable. Some old floors
room. As a room it became irrelevant
struggle with the consequences of it?
have survived, part of this wood has been
to keep it, right? And instead a larger
TB: Yes, mainly with that. The investors
preserved I think, but generally it was all
kitchen was very much useful.
had pictures showing what the property
a wreck. GHL: Yes, it's huge.
looked like at the time of purchase. Apart from the fact that the plot was
GHL: Did the present investor decide
TB: Well, it is big. Not huge, but big.
overrun with weeds, we had to deal
to buy this ramshackle dwelling only
If you have a big house for two people
with the effects of previous illegal
because of its location?
with a grown up child who comes and
repairs. When the roof started leaking
TB: No. They just wanted it full-stop.
goes as they please, why not have a vast
the previous owner, instead of fixing it
They wanted to live here, in this house.
kitchen? It's been generally accepted that
in the conventional way, covered the
And they had been hunting for it for
if a partition wall in a kitchen is removed
rotten woodwork with a shallow-sloped
many, many years. When the renovation
once, it won't be reinstated again.
gabled roof; but they didn't really care
started, the investors didn't live in the
to do a good job and hide it behind
house and we had been preparing this
GHL: Have the sliding walls, visible in
the existing eaves. The rafters jutted
project before the subsidy was granted.
the old drawings, been preserved? In
out from edge of the building. What’s
Luckily, they didn't have money so they
the designs of the exhibition houses
more, there were no gutters, so the
didn't start the work immediately and
there were many such walls dividing
water would simply pour down when
then they subsequently received the
the living rooms. Are there any signs of
it rained, but just a bit farther from the
funds from the Historic Preservation
their existence still?
wall. The upper part of the roof was
Officer's Program. The house was in a
TB: Now it's a long span interior. This
repaired in the same way where there
terrible condition, there was nothing of it
sliding wall, visible in the photographs,
were small rafters inserted and covered
to look at really. That's what it was like
was there before the war but it wasn't
with boards and then covered with tar.
when it comes to the construction issues.
there when we took charge of the property.
What was the condition of this house? It was a disaster. Later on the investor
GHL: And the functionality? Currently
came into some extra funds, so they
the layout is slightly different than
GHL: You've mentioned that some
decided to insulate the house with
what it was in 1929. There's a problem
objects have survived. Wall lights, right?
polystyrene foam.
with partially preserved or rather
TB: Yes, wall lights, but I'm not sure
WuWA 1929 2014 67