The Łazy Palace Estate in Kampinos (sold)
EDIT: sold
- The unique opportunity for a private investor to own a part of the Chopin family heritage
- A 311 m², 12-room wing of a 19th-century palace
- 4.37 ha of enclosed park land
- 40 km west of Warsaw, 6 km east of Żelazowa Wola, just south of Kampinos National Park, and 20 km from Poland’s new international air travel hub in Baranów
- Great potential for commercial redevelopment
- Details available from Bogna J. Gladden-Obidzińska at +48 664 603 886 or bogna.gladden@castellan.estate
Overview
Castellan presents the exclusive opportunity to purchase a historic palatial estate in the village of Łazy (pronounced “WAH-zih”), located 40 km west of Warsaw. This beautiful 4.37 ha property includes the oficyna or surviving wing of a neo-classicist palace with neo-baroque elements that was constructed in the 19th century and restored in the 1930s. The building includes 12 rooms and an area of 311.3 m² (3,348 ft²). It was added to Mazovia’s register of historical properties in 1998 and used as a school until 2003.
The Łazy Palace is in need of renovations in order to be habitable. The palace is ideally situated to be redeveloped for residential or commercial purposes – potentially as a hotel, resort, or performance center that leverages the estate’s proximity to the Fryderyk Chopin birthplace museum and the estate’s own historical connections with the Chopin family.
The existing structure could, if restored on its own, constitute a large country home, a small hotel, or an assisted living center. The possibility also exists of restoring the estate to its earlier grandeur by rebuilding the portions of the palace that are no longer standing, for which visualizations and plans have been prepared and permission was previously granted by the local historical conservation officer.
Location, surroundings, and transportation
- The Łazy Palace estate is ideally situated near the Fryderyk Chopin birthplace museum in Żelazowa Wola; just south of Kampinos National Park; 40 km west of Warsaw; and 20 km from Poland’s new central passenger airport in Baranów. Łazy enjoys train service at the nearby Teresin and Sochaczew stations and easy access to state road 580 and national highway 92.Łazy: The Chopin connection
- The history of the family that established the Łazy Palace estate is intertwined with that of the Chopin family and the Skarbek family, in whose nearby manor house the composer Fryderyk Chopin was born in 1810. Indeed, only a gentle stretch of farmland separates Łazy from the manor where Chopin’s parents met and worked together for years.As the son of a Skarbek himself, the founder of the Łazy estate was related both to the Chopins’ employer, Kacper Skarbek, and to Fryderyk Chopin’s godfather and artistic champion, Count Fryderyk Skarbek. The occupants of Łazy Palace and the Chopin family were essentially neighbors within early 19th-century Sochaczew county, and the estates on which they lived have experienced much shared history over the last two centuries.
Architectural drawings of the palace
The estate’s enclosed park
One needn’t take a stroll into Kampinos National Park to enjoy the serenity of a rich wooded environment, as the Łazy Palace estate’s grounds were laid out to present an enchanting arbored English landscape park of the sort popularized in the 18th century. Among its population of birch, acacia, poplar, linden, maple, and other trees are two remarkable specimens – an ash tree and silver poplar – that have been officially recognized as “natural monuments.”
Further details of the estate’s history
- The origins of the village of Łazy date back to at least 1451, the first recorded reference to the locale. The estate that now houses Łazy Palace had come into existence by the 18th century, when it was the property of Onufry Bromirski, a nobleman who served as the starosta or castellan of Płock and Płońsk and who built a wooden manor house on the site that is now the Łazy Palace estate.Potential for commercial redevelopment
At a minimum, the Łazy Palace is in need of repairs and redecoration before it can once again be put to productive use. The full spectrum of options that an investor may wish to consider ranges from a restoration of the existing structure to a re-envisioning and re-creation of those portions of the palace that previously existed.
In particular, strategic redevelopment of the property as a hotel, resort, or performance center can build on the links between the estate and the Chopin family. Over 100,000 people yearly visit Chopin’s birthplace museum in the neighboring village of Żelazowa Wola, and a restaurant, bed & breakfast, art gallery, or other commercial attraction located on the Łazy Palace estate would appeal to many of those visitors, as the surrounding area currently presents few such options for tourists.
Recent years have seen a growing number of tourists from Japan, China, and South Korea who travel to Poland specifically for the purpose of visiting sites and events associated with Chopin, drawn by the resonances between his compositional style and elements of East Asian music and culture. The Chopin birthplace museum’s parent entity, the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, also organizes the weeks-long Chopin Piano Competition – one of the most important events in the world of classical music, which every five years attracts the best pianists and thousands of music lovers from around the globe to the Warsaw area.
The Łazy Palace estate’s desirability as a commercial venue is further enhanced by the property’s location at the edge of the renowned Kampinos National Park, with its exceptional flora, fauna, and geography and hundreds of kilometers of walking, cycling, kayaking, and cross-country skiing trails. The manmade lake Zawady-Gnatowice, being developed only 3 km away from the Łazy Palace, will soon provide further attractions, such as beaches and water-sports facilities.
Beyond tourism-related uses, Łazy Palace and its enclosed park could also provide a safe and tranquil setting for a premium assisted living center or other specialized residential facility.
Previously approved redevelopment plans
In recent years, the estate’s owners commissioned architectural plans for a robust redevelopment of the property, which received preliminary permission from the local historical conservation officer. While investors are encouraged to develop their own vision for the creative reuse of the property, the plans that were previously developed and approved may provide a valuable starting point for investors who wish to formulate their own approach to redevelopment of the Łazy Palace estate.