Antonín Kurel’s villa
1928–1929

The villa on Družstevní Street was conceived as the private house of Pilsen builder and architect Antonín Kurel, who was also the author of the project and the contractor. It is not entirely clear whether Kurel intended to inhabit the new building himself, or if it was supposed to be a “turnkey" house for an unknown client. The second option is supported by the fact that four years later it was Hildegarda Giebitzová (Girleitzová) who was stated as the house’s owner. The building itself was completed in the spring of 1929 based on planning documentation from August 1928.

Although when viewed from the street the house appears to be a simple cubic form finished with a hipped roof, its harmonic forms show a pleasant articulation – for example, breaking up the facades with bays and complementing the coloured plaster with sections of bare brick. The space layout of the house corresponds with the conventions of the time – the basement containing the standard facilities of the house with cellars and a laundry room as well as a room for the caretaker accompanied by a pantry and toilet. The ground floor and the first floor had separate apartments. The elevated ground floor is accessible by an external staircase from the northern garden facade. A room, a kitchen, a pantry and a toilet were entered from the staircase hall. Going further from the kitchen there were a bathroom, a room know as an office and another room in the house corner. The apartment on the first floor was originally intended to have one less room – part of the roof in the garden corner was designed as a mansard with the space underneath intended to serve as an attic. Probably with regard to better use of the apartment, the space eventually became another living room. The area of the room on the first floor was partially reduced giving rise to a roofed terrace.

The house has been preserved almost in its original form (in its modern construction history with an unsurprising ban on the use of the basement apartment for its original purpose from the late 1960s). However, part of the garden gave way to a new building – a large garage with a flat roof.

LR
 

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