1. Warsaw–Vienna Railway Station
32 Warszawska Street
Since 1845, the Warsaw–Vienna Railway ran through the Milanówek estate, owned by the Lasocki family. The first building of the former railway stop was put into use on May 1, 1901. After a few years, a waiting room was added in the form of a wooden veranda decorated with openwork elements. “Tygodnik Ilustrowany” in 1905 praised: “At the gates of Warsaw lies Milanówek, one of our youngest summer residences. A wooded, healthy and very მშვიდ place, connected with Warsaw by as many as 20 trains a day.” Since 2001, the building houses the Municipal Police headquarters.
2. Villa Hala
25 Warszawska Street
Designed in 1911, the villa is the oldest of the income-generating houses forming the frontage of the semicircular market square. Rooms in the villa were rented by Milanówek merchants and craftsmen; on the ground floor there were shops and service premises, while from the courtyard side and on the upper floor there were residential premises. The building represents simplified modernism with elements of the English cottage style.
3. Villa Zosinek
12 Piłsudskiego Street
A monumental villa in the historicist style, with neo-Renaissance and neo-Baroque elements, was built in 1912 for Maria Eubig-Gasińska together with a gatehouse, carriage house and stable. In 1925, the property was purchased by the lawyer Włodzimierz Żeromski, a cousin of Stefan Żeromski. In the post-war years, tenants were accommodated in the building; on the ground floor there were the Municipal Library and a kindergarten, and later the Municipal Centre of Culture and Propaganda.
4. Villa Perełka
12 Grudowska Street
A villa with elements of the Art Nouveau style, built after 1911 for Edward Berndt, was the largest year-round guesthouse in Milanówek. In the years 1923–1925, Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński organized literary gatherings here. In 1939, a medical point was established in the villa, and in August 1944 a hospital was created for the wounded from Warsaw and the Pruszków transit camp Dulag 121. The current appearance of “Perełka” is the result of many years of public management of premises, as a result of which buildings inhabited by random families were rebuilt without supervision and lost their character.
5. Villa Zosin
6 Krakowska Street
On the other side of the tracks, the Zosin villa emerges. Architect Wacław Pióro built it in 1911 according to his own design as a guesthouse. The building was rented and in the same year a seven-grade girls’ school of Helena Raziewiczówna was opened there, whose advertised advantage was the possibility for pupils to stay in the fresh air. The villa was inhabited by opera singer Mieczysław Salecki and Brigadier General of the Polish Army Jan Stankiewicz. “Zosin” is an example of restrained architecture with classical elements.
6. Villa Starodrzew
2 Kaprys Street
The building was created as a villa with the character of a romantic castle in a forest-park garden. Built by Sieragowski, it later belonged to Roman Sieragowski, who in 1935 donated it to Public School No. 2. During World War II, the building was occupied by the Germans, but the school operated underground. A radio station and Home Army officer cadet training functioned here. In 1944, a hospital for about 150 people operated in the villa. After World War II, a gynecological hospital was located here for many years.
7. Villa Banczewianka
10 Zaciszna Street
A summer villa built in 1914 for Józef Gerber. Later owners were Maria and Barbara Wachowska. The building is single-storey, with an attic projection; elements of the Swiss style are visible in its form. It was built of wooden logs and set on a low masonry plinth. The villa underwent a general renovation. Among other things, the entire façade was replaced with a new one, preserving most of the original windows and internal doors. In front of the villa grows a magnificent oak – a natural monument.
8. Villa Garbatka
32 Podgórna Street
A villa erected in the second half of the 1920s with the character of a neoclassical manor, picturesquely situated on an elevation that is a remnant of a former dune. It is surrounded by a garden with columnar thujas. The current appearance of the villa is the result of an expansion carried out in the 1970s, when an arched transom window above the semicircular portico was added.
9. Villa Sulima
46 Podgórna Street
A villa built around 1925 for Colonel Sulikowski by the outstanding architect Oskar Sosnowski (1880–1939). The villa is commonly called “Under the Mother of God,” from the mosaic depicting Mary with the Child placed in the gable of the building. The composition is maintained in the spirit of modernism with historicizing elements.
In 1915, the villa was damaged as a result of a shrapnel explosion. Around 1916, during reconstruction, in place of the northern veranda a spacious sculptural studio of Szczepkowski was created, and on the upper floor, above the studio, a dining room was arranged. Currently, the villa houses the headquarters of the Milanówek Cultural Centre, as well as a permanent exhibition devoted to the work of Jan Szczepkowski.
10. Villa Ostromir / Pod Góralem
5 Sienkiewicza Street
The villa was built in the years 1912–1914 by the Milanówek architect Piotr Janicki as his own house. Its customary name “Pod Góralem” comes from a fresco (currently painted over) in a niche next to the entrance, depicting a highlander on horseback. The villa is built in the Zakopane style. The garden is surrounded by a characteristic modernist openwork fence with decoration being a transformed motif of highlander parzenica patterns.
11. Villa Waleria
22 Spacerowa Street
The villa was erected in 1910 according to the author’s design of actor and director Rufin Morozowicz as a magnificent residence for his wife, Waleria née Kotowicz. The building represents the style of modernized historicism. The front façade is distinguished by a three-axis central risalit, preceded by a columned porch with representative stairs leading towards the garden.
12. Villa Ewarystówka / Irena
12 Mickiewicza Street
The villa was erected in 1907 for Ewaryst Pilarski, a long-time commander of the Volunteer Fire Brigade in Milanówek. Due to the new owner Irena Ostoja-Chyżyńska, in 1934 the name of the villa was changed to “Irena.” From September 1944, for some time the urn with the heart of Fryderyk Chopin, brought from ruined Warsaw, was hidden in the building. The villa “Irena,” with its modest classicizing detail, is an example of a characteristic feature of Milanówek – enriching brick buildings with storey, openwork, wooden verandas.
13. Villa Matulinek
10 Mickiewicza Street
A neoclassical villa inspired by the architecture of the Palace on the Water in Warsaw’s Łazienki. Built before 1910 according to the design of Jan Heurich the Younger for the industrialist Oskar Saenger, owner of a cellulose factory in Włocławek, as a suburban summer residence. The body of the building is single-storey, with a higher, two-storey central part. Both storeys are crowned with decorative balustraded attics. The rear façade is enriched with a portico supported on four columns in the Ionic style.
14. Villa Emanów
4 Mickiewicza Street
A villa erected in the years 1911–1912 according to the design of architect Kuder for Emanuel Leopold Marcus, director of a glassworks in Zawiercie and president of the Council of the Association of Glassworks in Poland. On June 1, 1930, the President of the Republic of Poland Ignacy Mościcki was received here during a several-hour visit to Milanówek related to the ceremonial opening of the Central Experimental Silk Station. The founders of the Station, the Witaczek family, lived here from 1931 to 1949. On the property there are numerous oaks – natural monuments.
15. Villa Wandzin
45 Kościuszki Street
A villa erected in 1910 for Antoni Wieniawski, an economist and landowner, nephew of Henryk Wieniawski, the famous violinist and composer. In the 1920s, the family of Mieczysław Grzybowski, related to the composer Karol Szymanowski, lived here. From 1934, on the ground floor of the villa there was the office of the Municipality and the Council of the Milanówek Summer Resort. Currently, the building is the seat of the Milanówek Town Hall. The villa originally had porches supported on pillars on both sides; only one has survived – on the eastern side.