Only 3% of Europe’s forests
are ancient woodland;
the rest are timber factories.
Most of the forest around us is no more than 150 years old. Individual trees are of course far older, but the fabric of an ancient forest, one that shapes itself, has almost ceased to exist.
The forest surrounding our house is of that kind too. In Poland, the Białowieża Forest is the only primeval woodland ecosystem, one of the last in Europe.
The forest is felled again and again — the landscape keeps changing.
It is Modest — it has no history counted in centuries — but we are glad it is here.
The idea behind the house
Skromny Las is a place where we meet nature and the creative process, an old school of craftsmanship.
Everything we have done here was guided by one aim: not to disturb that process with excessive interference. The house has been restored only as far as it allowed us to. We kept everything we could — the windows, the floors, the front door, the bare walls — while adding a touch of the modern. We want everyone who crosses our threshold to feel that everything is in its right place. Without an excess of objects or stimuli, yet with everything they need close at hand.
Modest does not mean lacking. Modest means minimal. Nothing whose form, content or function would be unsuitable, out of place, superfluous or distracting.
The next stage in developing the idea of Skromny Las will be the chance to experience craft and making, to work with natural materials such as wood and clay. Before long our guests will be able to enjoy the work of their own hands while resting from the modern way of life.