diff --git a/newcontrol_unix.c b/newcontrol_unix.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dd4e4ebd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newcontrol_unix.c
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+// 7 april 2015
+#include "uipriv_unix.h"
+
+typedef struct uiSingleWidgetControl uiSingleWidgetControl;
+
+struct uiSingleWidgetControl {
+	uiControl control;
+	GtkWidget *widget;
+	GtkWidget *scrolledWindow;
+	GtkWidget *immediate;		// the widget that is added to the parent container; either widget or scrolledWindow
+	void *data;
+};
+
+#define S(c) ((uiSingleWidgetControl *) (c))
+
+static uintptr_t singleHandle(uiControl *c)
+{
+	return (uintptr_t) (S(c)->widget);
+}
+
+static void singleSetParent(uiControl *c, uintptr_t parent)
+{
+	gtk_container_add(GTK_CONTAINER(parent), S(c)->immediate);
+}
+
+static uiSize singlePreferredSize(uiControl *c, uiSizing *d)
+{
+	uiSize size;
+	GtkRequisition natural;
+
+	// use the natural size as the minimum size is an *absolute* minimum
+	// for example, if a label has ellipsizing on, it can be the width of the ellipses, not the text
+	// there is a warning about height-for-width sizing, but in my tests this isn't an issue
+	gtk_widget_get_preferred_size(S(c)->widget, NULL, &natural);
+	size.width = natural.width;
+	size.height = natural.height;
+	return size;
+}
+
+static void singleResize(uiControl *c, intmax_t x, intmax_t y, intmax_t width, intmax_t height, uiSizing *d)
+{
+	GtkAllocation a;
+
+	a.x = x;
+	a.y = y;
+	a.width = width;
+	a.height = height;
+	gtk_widget_size_allocate(S(c)->immediate, &a);
+}
+
+static void singleContainerShow(uiControl *c)
+{
+	gtk_widget_show_all(S(c)->immediate);
+}
+
+static void singleContainerHide(uiControl *c)
+{
+	gtk_widget_hide(S(c)->immediate);
+}
+
+// TODO connect free function
+
+uiControl *uiUnixNewControl(GType type, guint nConstructParams, GParameter *constructParams, gboolean inScrolledWindow, gboolean needsViewport, gboolean scrolledWindowHasBorder, void *data)
+{
+	uiSingleHWNDControl *c;
+
+	c = g_new0(uiSingleHWNDControl, 1);
+	c->widget = GTK_WIDGET(g_object_newv(type, nConstructParams, constructParams));
+	c->immediate = c->widget;
+
+	// TODO turn into bit field?
+	// TODO should we check to see if the GType implements GtkScrollable instead of having this passed as a parameter?
+	if (inScrolledWindow) {
+		c->scrolledWindow = gtk_scrolled_window_new(NULL, NULL);
+		if (needsViewport)
+			gtk_scrolled_window_add_with_viewport(GTK_SCROLLED_WINDOW(c->scrolledWindow), c->widget);
+		else
+			gtk_container_add(GTK_CONTAINER(c->scrolledWindow), c->widget);
+		if (scrolledWindowHasBorder)
+			gtk_scrolled_window_set_shadow_type(GTK_SCROLLED_WINDOW(c->scrolledWindow), GTK_SHADOW_IN);
+		c->immediate = c->scrolledWindow;
+	}
+
+	c->control.handle = singleHandle;
+	c->control.setParent = singleSetParent;
+	c->control.preferredSize = singlePreferredSize;
+	c->control.resize = singleResize;
+	c->control.containerShow = singleContainerShow;
+	c->control.containerHide = singleContainerHide;
+
+	c->data = data;
+
+	return (uiControl *) c;
+}
+
+void *uiUnixControlData(uiControl *c)
+{
+	return S(c)->data;
+}
diff --git a/newcontrol_windows.c b/newcontrol_windows.c
index c26cbab9..a7288f71 100644
--- a/newcontrol_windows.c
+++ b/newcontrol_windows.c
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@ static uintptr_t singleHandle(uiControl *c)
 	return (uintptr_t) (S(c)->hwnd);
 }
 
-void singleSetParent(uiControl *c, uintptr_t parentHWND)
+static void singleSetParent(uiControl *c, uintptr_t parentHWND)
 {
 	if (SetParent(S(c)->hwnd, (HWND) parentHWND) == NULL)
 		logLastError("error changing control parent in singleSetParent()");
 }
 
-uiSize singlePreferredSize(uiControl *c, uiSizing *d)
+static uiSize singlePreferredSize(uiControl *c, uiSizing *d)
 {
 	uiSize size;
 
diff --git a/ui_unix.h b/ui_unix.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..19e8180c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui_unix.h
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+// 7 april 2015
+
+/*
+This file assumes that you have included <gtk/gtk.h> and "ui.h" beforehand. It provides API-specific functions for interfacing with foreign controls on Unix systems that use GTK+ to provide their UI (currently all except Mac OS X).
+*/
+
+#ifndef __UI_UI_UNIX_H__
+#define __UI_UI_UNIX_H__
+
+// uiUnixNewControl() creates a new uiControl with the given GTK+ control inside.
+// The first three parameters are used for creating the control itself and are the same as passed to g_object_newv().
+// The three scrolledWindow parameters allow placing scrollbars on the new control.
+// The data parameter can be accessed with uiUnixControlData().
+extern uiControl *uiUnixNewControl(GType type, guint nConstructParams, GParameter *constructParams, gboolean inScrolledWindow, gboolean needsViewport, gboolean scrolledWindowHasBorder, void *data);
+extern void *uiUnixControlData(uiControl *c);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/uipriv_unix.h b/uipriv_unix.h
index d7933ef8..d7e49919 100644
--- a/uipriv_unix.h
+++ b/uipriv_unix.h
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@
 #define GDK_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED GDK_VERSION_3_4
 #include <gtk/gtk.h>
 #include "uipriv.h"
+#include "ui_unix.h"