The Villa of the Presidents

Yes, I am selling exceptional properties in Prague. My clientele is accustomed to finding architectural jewels in my company’s offer. It rarely happens that a client is not attracted by any of the houses, villas and residences in our offer.

However, this time it was a little different than usual.

Not every property demands such close attention that I write about it on the blog. In this case, it is an absolute necessity. If it were possible, a person would ask such a building for its autograph.

Why?

Selling a villa like the Roosevelt has an impact on the emotions of even a seasoned lover of real estate. In short, there are buildings that have charisma. It’s the same as with people. You see them and time stops for a moment. These few seconds of consternation often lead to a decision to buy the property. It’s something like chemistry. A person suddenly feels that “this is the one.”  

The roots, or rather the foundations, of this queen among villas date back to 1929. The villa stands in the Prague 6 municipal preservation zone and the property’s biography would be issued in a historical document.The villa was designed by famous architects and collaborators Ernst Mühlstein and Victor Furth. In its day, the address Rooseveltova 14 was already very prestigious.

As its era would indicate, this is a First Republic villa in French style. Of course, it has a pool, elevator, terrace and perfectly maintained garden with the atmosphere of an English park. The villa’s layout enables the lord and lady of the house to welcome up to 150 guests. The original 1,870 m² land plot was later expanded with the addition of two neighbouring plots, so the total area is now 4,300 m². The villa was built as the family home of an important person in Czech society at that time, businessman Gustav Barth, owner of Palác Koruna on Václavské náměstí and Černý pivovar. Barth’s family fled the country during the Nazi occupation.

After the nationalization of private property by the communists in 1945, the Roosevelt Villa was the home of influential and powerful men. The first was interior minister Nosek, followed by President Klement Gottwald in 1947. From 1953, Gottwald’s successor, Antonín Zápotocký, lived in the villa. A highly placed Slovak official, Mikuláš Beňo, lived there until the Velvet Revolution. In 1990 the villa was occupied by Mr. Alves, a Brazillian diplomat and businessman, though the house was intended to be the residence of President Václav Havel.

The last lord of the house took the demanding renovation of this significant property very seriously and, above all, undertook the effort with nearly 100% faithfulness to the original style.You can see the conformity with the original interior in the photo gallery and soak in at least a little of the original historical atmosphere.

It was an honour for me to hand this villa over to its new owner. And even though this property is inimitable, I believe that there will be similar encounters in the future. The Roosevelt Villa confirmed my conviction that the well of the real estate market is inexhaustible and full of jewels.

Your Karin

Publikováno 2.5.2016, autor: Karin Cossmann