The villa at 1 Sądowa Street

It is one of the most architecturally interesting buildings in Wałcz. There is also an intriguing story associated with it—a legend that explains the existence of its beautiful bay window. Apparently, the building’s first owner was an avid hunter. He often went hunting in the forests near Wałcz; with varying degrees of success, but he usually returned with some game. Walking through the woods with his double-barreled shotgun, he felt strong and important—it was he who decided the life or death of the animals he encountered. However, that didn’t last forever. One day, however, he was taken by surprise by a herd of wild boars. He didn’t have time to take aim; he dropped his shotgun and scrambled up a tree. Numb with fear, he spent many hours there; when the wild boars had left, wolves appeared, sensing an opportunity for easy prey. Now it was the hunter who felt like the prey. He understood what the fear of death felt like. He promised himself and the forest animals that if he managed to escape with his life, he would never again shoot any of the forest’s inhabitants. When he did so, the wolves left and deer appeared. The hunter, no longer having the strength to hold on to the branch any longer, fell almost right under the hooves of the animals he had been shooting at just a short while ago. As he fell, he thought, “Now they’ll trample me.” The deer, however, did not do so. Upon returning to Wałcz, the hunter not only gave up hunting animals but also decided, as a memento of those events, to commission the decoration of his house—which was then under construction—with bas-reliefs depicting forest animals. For this purpose, a wooden bay window was designed

This house was built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The first two stories were built of brick, while both attic levels were constructed using half-timber framing, which gives the building a picturesque appearance. The appearance of the facade is enlivened by windows of various shapes—the facade facing Sądowa Street on the ground floor features semicircular-topped windows, with the corner windows being tripartite, each section divided into two panes. All windows on the ground floor have recently been secured with decorative metal grilles. The lower corners of the façade’s apparent risalit are adorned with hewn granite stones. On the first floor of this wall, on its right side, there is a tripartite window identical in form to the lower windows, while the apparent risalit on the right features two rectangular windows; while on the left side stands the wooden, three-sided bay window mentioned in the legend, supported by corbels, covered with a hipped roof, and decorated with bas-reliefs depicting forest animals and birds, as well as colorfully varied woodcarved ornaments. This bay window has been restored in recent years by Wałcz-based artist Jerzy Poszepczyński. Also noteworthy is the entrance portal on Pocztowa Street, featuring a semicircular panel crowning the double doors, adorned with a floral motif of acanthus leaves and a ribbon bearing the inscription AGE QUOD AGIS—a frequently used maxim reminding one to “Do whatever you do   (meaning, focus on what you are currently doing so that you do it properly).