Highland Comfort at Górska Osada

A Dreamlike Proposal Setting

“I thought we were going to a hostel with bunk beds, but my boyfriend brought me to an extraordinary wooden cottage. The fireplace was lit, candles and lanterns everywhere, flowers and champagne on the table. I thought I was dreaming. Then he proposed.” This isn’t a sentimental story from a magazine full of real-life tales. Ula often hears such confessions. Proposals at Górska Osada in Zakopane are a real craze. Ula loves arranging the entire surprise. When future fiancés call to book, she suggests additional touches to enchant the girl: a ride in a highland carriage, a romantic dinner under the stars, or an equally romantic breakfast.

A Vision of Highland Tradition

When Ula and Kuba arrived in Podhale, they almost immediately started thinking about Górska Osada – it would be very Zakopane, made from natural local materials and built according to local principles. Only in details can you tell that the Settlement is not entirely “pureblood”. For instance, in a true highland room, there are no soft sofas (for the city folks’ soft behinds), only sturdy benches with sheep skins. But the owners didn’t want to replicate the “hard” highland conditions. They decided to showcase the most beautiful aspects of the Zakopane style and change what was uncomfortable. They installed large windows, built fireplaces, and made the rooms bright and warm.

Embracing Highland Architecture

Ula and Kuba, who met while studying architecture, spent long hours observing and studying highland architecture at “Koliba”, the Witkiewicz museum, a great promoter of the Zakopane style. As a result, their home features beams, log walls, and intricately carved front doors like no other.

The Charm of a Living Wooden House

Spruce logs creak and groan, which adds charm but also requires a lot of work as something always needs caulking to prevent drafts. A wooden house lives and breathes. The highlanders say: “here it blows, there it blows”, and Ula believes the house tells guests fairy tales. It works so well that you can cure urban insomnia. Visitors fall in love with these soothing murmurs, the smell, and want to have such homes somewhere in the valleys, on the plains. They come, observe, and order a project. So Ula and Kuba design. And the future? They believe a time will come when they will sit on the veranda, playing chess, with a glass of their favorite mead. For now, they barely manage to escape to the mountains, as they say, to breathe in the beauty, ride bikes or snowboards. Because staying still is impossible. Ula, like a true highlander, can’t sit still. Now she’s finishing a playground house for children, recently ordered a large polka-dotted bowl from Emalia Olkusz. She’ll turn it into a sink. And she keeps coming up with new attractions for guests because she loves making people happy.