Arcaded Cottage

The building dates back to 1748 and is one of the oldest rural houses in the Wałcz County. It is a cottage with a corner arcade, with its gable facing the road. It was built on a brick foundation; two walls are half-timbered, while the other two are brick. The gable wall is sheathed with vertically arranged boards. The window in the gable wall has been replaced with a modern one, as has one of the windows in the side wall. In the postwar years, the arcade was enclosed with wooden walls featuring a large glazed area in the form of six-pane windows, integrated into the posts, purlins, and transoms that constitute the original arcade structure.

An arcade is a covered section of space within the lower part of a building, created by setting back the building’s exterior wall or a portion thereof. Arcades were used in folk architecture throughout the country, though distinct forms emerged in various regions, differing in the shape of the structure, construction methods, and decorative details. Arcades are elements that enrich the building’s form while also serving practical functions; among other things, they served as places for performing household chores—outside the home but under a roof that provided protection from rain or the sun. Arcades were positioned in various ways: either at the gables of buildings or along the side walls; sometimes they took the form of so-called “circular arcades” that even encircled the entire cottage.  The gradual development of the space beneath the gable arcade led to the emergence of the corner arcade, a form that survived the longest in Kashubia, Pomerania, and Greater Poland. It is precisely this form that the cottage in Nakielno exemplifies.