Villa Koliba in Zakopane was designed by Stanisław Witkiewicz for Zygmunt Gnatowski, who used it to store his ethnographic collection. Witkiewicz made sketches in 1891, and local workers built it in 1892 and 1893. The text calls it the first building ever erected in the Zakopane style. It names no materials or dimensions.
Gnatowski first planned a simple hut in Podhale architecture, but Witkiewicz persuaded him to build in the new style. Witkiewicz wanted to promote a national rustic architecture, after noticing wealthy locals building in Swiss folk style. The name koliba refers to a shepherd's hut in the Goral dialect.
The villa has been a registered Polish monument since 1983. It became the Museum of Zakopane Style on December 4, 1993, as a branch of the Tatra Museum. A highlander's chamber displays furniture and objects, many based on Witkiewicz's designs. The article gives no hours.
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