Where Lesia lived...

“To have more room, I have built during this summer a separate literature chalet for older children; Lesia and Lilia live there, and also Mysha when comes here – we and the smaller children live in the house. From this resettlement we have some fun: one day we visit Lesia, another day she walks to us for a dinner. The cabin has well-lit and dry rooms, with high ceiling – exactly what Lesia needs,” Petro Kosach, the writer’s father, wrote to Liudmyla Drahomanova. The wooden house was built by the masters from Kolodiazhne village, where the Kosach estate was located, as well as from Liubytiv. Verandah is spacious; the supports are made from the trunks of birch trees. On a sunny day or at a moonlit night it looked like the house was shining with its white walls, and thus it was called the “white cabin.” There was a solarium established on the roof of the veranda, where Lesia was able to sunbathe. According to Izydora Kosach-Borysova, the “white cabin” was very popular among the family, and Olena Pchilka used the same style when building a house in Zeleny Hai near Hadiach     – on the farm she received in an inheritance from her parents. Polissian carpenters from Kolodiazhne were sent there and built it under the direction of Karol Rusylovych.

Last time Lesia was in Kolodiazhne in February 1907. Since then, the “white cabin” housed all guests of Kosach family. During the World War One there was a field mail service, in 1919 – the headquarters of the northwest detachment of the Ukrainian army, and in 1920 – the local executive committee. Mykola Kosach, Lesia’s brother, has sold the house later to Pylyp Syliuk from Kolodiazhne. At that time the building was already in the state that required repairs. In 1938 the progressive community of Western Ukraine has raised a question in the press concerning the purchase of Lesia’s “white cabin.” In May 1941, Volyn Oblast Executive Committee has approved the organization of the museum in Kolodiazhne village. Ten thousand rubles were allocated to restore the building and assembling the display. However, noble intentions were held back by the war. July 10, 1949 a renovated Lesia’s “white cabin” housed a museum (run on a voluntary basis) in the blue room, in the second room (the pink one, the writer’s personal office) there was the village library. In 1963 in the “gray” house of Kosach family there was a literary exhibition, and Lesia’s “white cabin” became a memorial. Now Kolodiazhne has the Memorial Museum, and the “white cabin,” which displays some of Lesia’s personal belongings and furniture, attracts the most visitors.

The 125th anniversary of its construction was celebrated with a traveling exhibition, which presented documents, photographs, and scientific articles telling about its history.