Reconstruction of the apartment building Matoušova 12

History
House 515/12 on today's Matoušova Street was built as a bourgeois Neoclassical villa in 1885 for the American Oil Company. The extensive plot connected to the south with the garden of the Portheim Villa and to the north with the Kinský Park. During the urbanization of Smíchov, the house was incorporated into a row of municipal buildings at the beginning of the 20th century and lost a significant part of its garden. At the same time, the level of the adjacent terrain was significantly raised. Later, a third residential floor was added.
In 1922, the house was purchased by JUDr. Eduard Schwarz, who commissioned its modernization from architects Karel and Otto Kohn. All the layouts of the house were adjusted for the needs of a comfortable residence for a wealthy family. The most significant changes occurred in the main living floor, where the architects raised part of the entrance hall above the inner courtyard space, thus freeing up the layout for a generous connection between the northern and southern parts of the house. The house received central heating, a dining and personal elevator, which was supplied in 1928 by Kolben & Daněk. The project by the Kohn brothers also included the design of all interiors, including veneered wall coverings, inlaid wooden floors, built-in furniture, plaster ceilings with built-in lighting (including dozens of light bulb sockets in one room), bathroom and kitchen fittings, and of course, mobile furniture.
The last minor adjustments took place in the attic in 1936.
Just before the war, part of the family emigrated, and some perished during the war. In the 1940s, the villa became a tenement house, and after 1948, the generously designed spaces were divided into seven apartments. After 1989, the house returned to the family of the original owner.
 
Renovation of the house
I. phase (implementation 2006-2009)
The renovation began with a general repair of the technical installations and the envelope of the entire house and the construction of two rental apartments in the enlarged attic, where the reconstructed elevator was also extended. During the rebuilding of the elevator, a larger part of the original shaft enclosure was preserved, and especially, the original elevator cabin from 1928 was refurbished.
A complete renovation of the public interior was carried out. On the ground floor, a studio apartment (originally the office of procurator JUDr. Schwarz) was repaired, with the flooring, wooden paneling, ceiling, and a newly built bathroom and kitchenette being refurbished.

II. phase (implementation 2009-2010)
Adjustments were made to the 2nd and 3rd above-ground floors. A dividing wall built into the 2nd floor was demolished, and the entire floor was once again unified into one whole. Flooring, wooden and stone cladding, stucco, and built-in furniture were refurbished. The mobile inventory was preserved only in exceptional cases.
With regard to the most sensitive restoration of the original interior and with the awareness of the completely changed needs of contemporary living, after verifying other options, it was decided to use the representative spaces as a law office. This allowed for the preservation of the original layout and the existing interior. The only significant change was the removal of the original double entrance (the entrance on the kitchen side was likely for service) and the creation of new entrance doors in the axis of the hall. In the original wardrobe at the main entrance, a necessary second bathroom was created.
In the 3rd floor, a similar approach was taken, with the difference that the floor remained divided into two apartments.

III. phase (implementation 2012-2013)
The concept of the Kohn architects is continued by connecting the public part of the house with the garden via a staircase; the northern apartment on the 1st above-ground floor is divided by a new hallway, which is followed by an external staircase.

Currently, the house contains 7 residential units and two sets of office spaces.