Residential architecture in Poland

Residential buildings in Poland are fundamentally divided into two main categories: single-family buildings (houses), and multi-family buildings (blocks of flats, apartment buildings). The former are meant to house only a small number of people, either one or a few families, while the latter are built with larger amounts of people living in their own separate areas of the same building in mind. There are also a few sub-categories, like multi-family houses (Polish: domy wielorodzinne), which can house multiple families, but don't have separate flats inside, and don't usually have separate entrances to the building. According to data from Eurostat to a 2025: 51.2% of Poles live in single-family detached houses, 33.6% live in flat in a building with ten or more dwellings, 9.1% live in Flat in a building with less than ten dwellings, 6% live in semi-detached houses, and 0.2% live in other types of buildings.

Housing styles

During the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the 19th century when Grand Duchy of Lithuania was united with Poland, the aristocracy built country palaces and manors. Members of this elite also had residences in major cities or towns but, as in France, these were large lateral apartments rather than town houses. Therefore houses built before the Second World War tend to fall into two types: palaces and 2-4 room wooden houses. In some towns such as Zakopane and Nałęczów stunning examples of town houses still exist but they are the exception rather than the norm.

After the Second World War brick built houses became more popular and led to a distinctive style during the 1960s and 1970s. In the last 25 years there has been exceptional growth in Polish wealth which has allowed many Poles to build their own property.