 As the Podhale region developed into a tourist area in the mid-19th century, the population of Zakopane began to rise.The new buildings to house these new well-to-do inhabitants was built in the style of Swiss and later Austro-Hungarian chalets.Stanislaw Witkiewicz, an art critic, architect, painter, novelist and journalist, was chosen to design a villa for Zygmunt Gnatowski.