Vul. Vynnychenka, 3 – residential building

Previous House on the Site

The first house was built on this site around 1780. It was located outside the fortifications of the Bernardine monastery, on the plot with the conscription number 740 in the central part of the city. The next one was built by Jan Rodkiewicz (DALO 2/2/3446:18). Rodkiewicz made a career in civil service from a trainee in the expedition department (in the early years of the 19th century) to a counselor of the Provincial Court, first in Stanisławów (now Ivano-Frankivsk) and then in Lviv. He was ennobled in the 1820s. In the government registers dating back to 1828, he is listed as the owner of the village of Nowe Sioło (today Nove Selo) in Zhovkva County; his name being recorded as Johann Ritter von Rodkiewicz. From 1835 he was a member of the Provincial Department (ger. Landes-Ausschuss) in Lviv and died in around 1853-1854.

Rodkiewicz's house, as far as can be judged from historical maps of Lviv, was constructed in the late 1830s – early 1840s, like the neighboring house at vul. Vynnychenka 1, but not at the same time. Both houses had three floors and were designed in neoclassicical style, but differed in height and character of decor. In the 1850s and 1870s, both were owned by Jan Rodkiewicz's son, Stanisław, and Anna Rodkiewicz. The construction documents have not been preserved, so it is impossible to date the construction more accurately.

The building number 3 consisted mostly of rooms for rent; on the ground floor, there was a tavern (DALO 2/2/3446:4). In the rear part of the plot, there was a two-story outbuilding adjacent to the wall of the Bernardine monastery. From the time of construction until 1871, almost nothing changed (DALO 2/2/3446:4). It was in that year that new building regulations were approved in the city. After inspections of the house by the construction department commission, the magistrate made demands to the owners to improve fire safety. It was in particular about the arrangement of a separate entrance and stairs in the wing as the residents of the second floor could access the wing only through the main building and a wooden gallery. Another requirement was to rebuild the walls and vaults, which were cracked. There is a long correspondence between the owners and the magistrate's construction department, which includes letters of appeal to the Provincial Department (DALO 2/2/3446:14-29). In the absence of the owners due to their foreign trips, they were represented by the real estate administrator Eugeniusz Radecki (DALO 2/2/3446:29). In 1873, the Rodkiewiczs were fined for repairing a shingled roof (which should be not repaired but replaced with a fireproof one), as well as for their "non-compliance with the requirement of cleanliness" (DALO 2/2/3446:36-38).

In 1877, both houses at what is now vul. Vynnychenka 1 and 3 were purchased by countess Skarbek (Stanisława Anna Katarzyna Skarbek née Witwicka).

The house was defined by its closeness both to the Bernardine monastery fortifications and, from the early 19th century, to the fire "guard". Countess Skarbek, becoming the owner of the house and, at the same time, of the fence on its north-west side, decided to replace old closets adjacent to it, constructing a wing with additional housing there. This project was designed by architect Ignacy Winiarz (DALO 3/3/3446:103). However, the magistrate prevented the implementation of the project and demanded to restore the fence in the form in which it was before. Correspondence between the owner and the magistrate lasted for years.

This house was built in the Neoclassicist era and was decorated with pilasters having Ionian order capitals. The façade was probably yellow with some lighter ocher white details: in a photo from the Lviv Historical Museum, a noticeable contrast can be seen.

Shading the Bernardine Monastery Apse

In 1892, this townhouse was bought by Countess Albertyna Łączyńska. She planned to build a new four-story house there. However, she was not able to do this for a long time. Imperial and Royal Circle of Ancient Monuments Conservators, who studied architectural monuments among other things, interfered. The early 19th century house, which was to be demolished, was not of interest to them, as it was a relatively new object, belonging to the Habsburg era. However, the problem was the height of the new building, which, according to the Circle's secretary, Aleksander Czołowski, "would darken the interior of the Bernardine church and hide the chapel of St. John of Dukla" (DALO 2/2/3446:81-82). The church and the monastery, built in the early 17th century, had a high historical and artistic value; at that time, the Conservators had been supporting the Bernardines by examining and co-financing restoration works for several years. Therefore, learning of countess Łączyńska's plans, the Conservators decided at their meeting on March 8, 1897, to apply to the magistrate so that the owner's project for this new construction would not be approved (Teka konserwatorska, 1900, 112). In July 1898, a meeting of the City Council was held, at which this case was also discussed (Kurjer Lwowski, 1898, nr. 195, p. 4).

The construction process was delayed but not abandoned. In January 1898 the Bernardines, represented by abbot Szymon Niemczycki, vicar Daniel Magoński and curator Sabin Signio, agreed to all project drawings commissioned by the countess, so the Conservators had no more possibilities to prevent the construction (Teka konserwatorska, 1900, 114). A project for a four-story building, designed by Zygmunt Kędzierski, a constructor and a member of the City Council, and approved by the magistrate's construction department in March 1898 (DALO 2/2/3446:101,102,107), was implemented. In June 1898 Albertyna Łączyńska sold the property to count Izydor Łączyński (Kurjer Lwowski, 1898, nr. 202, p. 7). In 1899 the construction was completed; in the process minor changes were made to the project, which was instead of Łączyński approved by his lawyer and authorized person, Dr. Tadeusz Sołowij (DALO 2/2/3444:100,106).

Some time before 1916 (however, it is not known when exactly) the house became owned by Dr. Stanisław Platowski (?–1931), his wife Karolina, and Joanna (possibly Stanisław's mother); they remained the owners until 1939.

Further Use of the House

The house remained mostly residential. Before the First World War, there was a restaurant on the ground floor, along with the shop "Bracia Didolić" (later "Didolić i Prpić") selling Dalmatian wines. In 1900 there was a cement shop of Adolf Kampel and a workshop of H. Majulik, a military tailor; in 1910, the editorial board of the magazine Garderoba dziecięcia, the office of the Polish National League (pol. Polska Liga Narodowa), the "Česka Beseda" (1913), the "Nahlik, Whitehead and spółka"; also, Wlodzimierz Sieradzki, a famous doctor and court expert, lived there till his own townhouse at vul. Konopnytskoi, 8 was built. One can get some idea of ​​the commercial space interior in this building from a drawing by architect Adolf Wittmann, commissioned by Fryderyka Landau for her clothing shop in 1928 (DALO 2/2/3446:105).

During the Soviet period, a dormitory of the Trade and Economic Institute was arranged in the house; also, a "shashlik-house" functioned there in the 1950s. In the 1980s, a bar and restaurant called "Hlynianska Vezha" was opened there, whose interiors were decorated with the use of historical themes (1234 вулиці Львова, 2009, 52-53). Today, there is a restaurant in its place. Part of the third floor premises is occupied by the Lviv Regional Children Library number 1.