Red

The town of Czerwona, also previously called Czerlana, located by the Pustocha River, a tributary of the Hujwa, was established in 1624 thanks to the efforts of the then owners of these estates – the Tyszkiewicz family. Its founder was probably Jan Ostafi Tyszkiewicz (died in 1631), the voivode of Brest-Litovsk, after whom his son from his marriage to Princess Zofia Wiśniowiecka inherited – Antoni Jan (ca. 1609 – 1649), the Lithuanian court marshal, married to Krystyna Szwykowska. After him, Czerwona passed to his only son Władysław (1644 – 1684), the starost of Purwian, who married twice: first to Marianna Tyzenhaus, childless, then to Teodora Aleksandra Sapieżanka. His only daughter Teresa married Krzysztof Zawisza – Kieżgajło, the voivode of Minsk. It is not exactly known when and how, but probably through purchase, but certainly in the 18th century, these goods became the hereditary property of the Bożeniec-Leśnicki family or Lesznicki. Helena Justyna Leśnicka, daughter of Wojciech (died in 1753) and Ludwika Nieławicka, granddaughter of Aleksander (died in 1747), the starost of Zhytomyr, brought the Czerwoński and Noworzyński keys as a dowry to her husband Franciszek Ksawery Grocholski of Grocholice (died in 1792), the land judge of Bracław. He later held many other offices, and from King Stanisław August, whom he hosted in Tereszki in Volhynia in 1787, he received the dignity of court chamberlain and the Orders of St. Stanislaus and the White Eagle. He was also a deputy to the Four-Year Sejm from the Bracław voivodeship.

Franciszek Ksawery Grocholski left two daughters: Tekla Franciszkowa Sariusz-Łaźnińska, later the heroine of the novel by Józef Rollego Teklunia, and Julia Józefowa Poniatowska of the Ciołek coat of arms, as well as two sons: Antoni, the civil-military commissioner of the Bracław voivodeship, a captain of the National Cavalry, a knight of the Order of St. Stanislaus, and Jan Nepomucen. Czerwona, Woronowica, Tereszki, and many other estates after the death of their father were taken over by Jan Nepomucen Grocholski (1767-1849), the president of the Main Courts of Podolia, married first to Izabella Rytarowska of the Topór coat of arms, and then to Michalina Zeydler (Zejdler) of the Korczak coat of arms (?), the daughter of a doctor from Stary Konstantynów. He had a daughter, Henryka, who married Franciszek Charłęski, and sons: Ignacy, an officer of the Polish Army, Adolf, Władysław (born in 1841), married to Kazimiera Sieraczyńska, childless, and from the second marriage Ludgard (born in 1842?), married to Maria Rohozińska, the heir of Tereszki. The Czerwoński key, comprising besides the town 19 farms, including 11 with an area of 16,207 dessiatines of land in Zhytomyr and 8,000 in the Kyiv governorate, went to Adolf Grocholski (1797-1863), married first to Otylia Poniatowska, and then to Princess Wanda Radziwiłł (born in 1827), the daughter of Prince Mikołaj (1801-1853) and Wiktoria from the Narbutt family, from the line called “berdyczowska”, a participant in the uprising of 1831, a widely respected marshal of the Berdyczów district nobility. Being childless, Adolf Grocholski bequeathed all his property, excluding his siblings, to his second wife. Shortly after her husband’s death, having sold Czerwona to a peasant from the Chernihiv governorate, Mikołaj Tereszczko, later ennobled, Wanda Grocholska moved abroad and died there. Czerwona remained in the hands of Mikołaj Tereszczko’s heirs until the Bolshevik revolution.

It is not known whether and what kind of residence existed in Czerwona until the mid-19th century. On a large scale, it was realized only in the 1850s by Adolf Grocholski. There are probably no records concerning the author of this extensive architectural-garden spatial composition, consisting of several buildings. However, they all received distinct neo-Gothic features. The main place was, of course, occupied by the two-story palace.

Its main body was a building erected on a rectangular plan, rigorously symmetrical from the driveway side. The central part of the front facade was slightly recessed, accented by a three-sided projection, in the fourth story transitioning into an octagonal tower. On the axis of the projection was the main entrance to the palace, closed with a pointed arch, and on the sides, two windows of the same shape but much narrower. The corners were covered with panel pilasters. On the first, especially on the second floor, there were three porte-fenêtres, reaching from the floors to the ceilings. The projection was crowned with battlements composed of triangular, pointed gables, divided by overhanging turrets. The recessed sections of the facade on both sides of the central projection, pierced by further tripartite porte-fenêtres, were vertically divided by panel pilasters, which also framed the corners of the palace. The building’s low ground floor was equipped with relatively small pointed arch windows, the first floor, serving as the bel-etage, with high two-part porte-fenêtres and similar but much lower ones also on the second floor. The facade was enlivened by inter-story cornices, especially the prominent one running under the window sills of the second floor, widened by a frieze. The front elevation was crowned with crenellations, partially covering the flattened roof.

The two side elevations presented themselves differently from each other, although they essentially repeated the details of the plastic decoration of the front facade. However, there were no porte-fenêtres here, and the second-floor windows consisted of two or three narrow windows joined by columns. The left elevation was reinforced, or perhaps only decorated, by a single buttress. On this side of the palace dominated an asymmetrically placed square tower with a separate entrance, topped similarly to the front one with battlements, with four overhanging turrets, but instead of gables – battlements. The tower was connected to a short wing preceded by a shallow four-column portico, supporting a terrace surrounded by an openwork balustrade.

The right side elevation, besides a row of small, pointed arch windows at the ground level and two similar ones on the middle floor and the second floor, was equipped with large, narrow, closely spaced rectangular windows, divided by small openings into small panes on both upper floors. So there could have been a winter garden there. From the rear corner of this elevation, a wing extended, set obliquely to it.

Below it housed a wide, quarter-circle arch open gate, connecting the front part of the garden with the rear. Above this wing rose another square tower. From the back of the main body, further wings protruded, closely connected with it, including one two-story, set parallel to the front. Its elevations were also divided by panel or smooth pilasters. The windows on the ground floor were rectangular, similar to those on the floor, but with the use of blind pointed arch closures. The entire garden side of the palace had a very varied and asymmetrical shape.

Information about the interiors is so general that little can be said about them. Particularly admired were the spacious vestibule with a staircase lined with white marble, the large ballroom with two Venetian crystal chandeliers, many salons, the dining room covered with paneling, patterned floors, marble fireplaces, and numerous works of art, mainly from the collection gathered by Franciszek Ksawery Grocholski and his son Jan Nepomucen. Among them were both marble sculptures brought from Italy and paintings, mainly of Dutch schools. All this was sold to Mikołaj Tereszczko along with the entire furnishing of the palace.

The neo-Gothic character, referring to English traditions, although to a slightly lesser extent, was also shown by two pavilions-annexes, erected on both sides of the palace, near its side elevations. The left one, two-story, with dormers placed in the truss of the gable roof, was further accentuated by a quadrangular tower, one story lower, however, than the palace towers. The right pavilion was slightly smaller than the left, essentially one-story, only with a two-story central part and without a tower. In the end, the neo-Gothic decor was also given to the farm buildings, including the stable for Arabian thoroughbred horses, whose breeding was initiated by Adolf Grocholski. It seems that a square tower also rose above it, visible in an engraving from the late 19th century.

The former seat of the Grocholski family stood in a vast landscape park, which, along with the adjacent orchards, occupied an area of 58 hectares. The most commonly found trees in Czerwona were lindens, chestnuts, poplars, spruces, and oaks. The garden also had two ponds with irregular banks, connected by a channel. On the larger pond, there was an island, and by the smaller one stood a bathing pavilion. Both in front of the palace and beyond it stretched extensive lawns, covered only with low decorative shrubs.

In the post-revolutionary years, an orphanage was arranged in the palace. In 1928, this building was consumed by fire. After the fire, the building was indeed rebuilt, but with completely changed interiors. 

Fragments from the memoirs of Maria Morzycka

(…)
I often visited Iwanków, from time to time I went to Czerwona to the Grocholski family to seek advice from Count and to use his protection in seeking a husband. He, a true gentleman, advised, helped, used his extensive influence, she advised me to take a lover in the person of Mr. Bierzyński, a great gentleman, a wealthy man from Volhynia who separated from his wife and supposedly fell in love with me, for this reason, I was invited to dinners and evenings when he visited or stayed for several weeks. The very proposal filled me with disgust, I was outraged by this great lady, a princess by birth, standing so low morally, and although I did not love my husband, such a settlement of the matter seemed monstrous to me.
(…)
The only thing that gave me relief was that immediately after arriving he was never at home, he took over the management of Count Grocholski’s estates in Czerwona, our nearest neighbor, and spent his time there, apart from hunting and trips to Zhytomyr also in the interests of Count. So I was alone again, only less free because I could not go anywhere without the knowledge and sanction of my ruler, nor act according to my judgment, nor establish relationships with people sympathetic to me. Again I was in a serious condition with the fourth child and had just completed my nineteenth year. I rebelled, suffered, and began to regret not listening to Countess Grocholska, Mr. Bierzyński was always delighted with me, promised to take me out into the wide world, was a millionaire, and threw all pleasures at my feet, the fullness of enjoying life, youth, and most importantly, the freedom I so desired.
(…)
The christening was celebrated lavishly, grandly. The godparents were: Countess Grocholska born Princess Radziwiłł and Tytus Olejnik, a peasant mayor from our village, in the second pair Countess Chrapowicka with Josyp and so on, at the table they all sat together, mixed peasants and great lords, among whom were also the Tyszkiewicz and Oskierko families. It did not help, however, and as I said above, three weeks after the birth of my son Jan, which occurred on February 10, so in the first days of March, I was sent to Zhytomyr because the peasants began to show hostile disposition.
(…)
An example is such a Tereszczko, one of the most prominent in the phalanx of this gang. His first debut was the purchase of Czerwona from Mrs. Grocholska, a princess by birth Radziwiłł. The princess represented the type of ordinary aristocrat, who for all time everywhere constitutes the class least prepared for life, but for centuries they have inherited in their blood the germ of use, abuse, domination, and exploitation. After the death of her wealthy husband Count Grocholski, she went under the wings of my husband who for a short time from Grocholski’s death, which occurred in February until the time of the uprising and his imprisonment, dealt with her affairs, when he was gone she was so frightened by the uprising, in such disturbances when he did not think of others barely having time to think of himself, she felt lost in this chaos without an advisor who would direct her and although Oskierko was spinning there winning the hand of Chrapowicka himself was a coward and a bungler, a helpless nobleman, who in no case could help either himself or more. Helpful commissioners were found who introduced her to Tereszczko as a buyer who immediately laid money on the table, she was very pleased, sold him the Czerwona estates for 200,000 with everything that had been collected there for centuries, the palace furnished with all the lordly delights. Horses, carriages, the entire inventory. By purchasing such a residence, Tereszczko laid the foundation of his future colossal fortune, buying noble estates around, he seized almost the entire district in his spider networks, and systematically worked towards entangling the nobleman and then seizing the estate. Mrs. Grocholska had 200,000 and immediately fled abroad where she probably enjoyed life among the haute aristocracy in Paris.