Konstantinovy Lázně have restored the monument-protected Art Nouveau villa in ten years

Konstantinovy Lázně – Konstantinovy Lázně in Tachov with 900 inhabitants have repaired the exteriors and interiors of Villa Käthi, the only cultural monument in the village, over the past ten years. They spent nearly ten million CZK on the restoration of the interiors and exteriors with support from the region and the Ministry of Culture. The municipality also expanded the school and built a large parking lot, said Mayor Karel Týzl (BEZPP) to ČTK.

"We have been reconstructing the villa for ten years in stages. It was a big bite," he said. The municipality plans to fence the garden next year, for which they already have a project. "It is also part of the heritage protection, so we want to preserve it," he added. According to Týzl, the restoration of the villa has likely succeeded, as it ranked second among repaired monuments in the Plzeň region this year and is also entered in the Building of the Year competition.

The Art Nouveau modernist spa villa from the early 20th century, which has been a cultural monument since 2018, represents a unique villa spa architecture according to conservators. It is located near the main spa building Prusík and the chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes. It was built as a summer residence by Plzeň notary Josef Binder. After 1945, it housed a kindergarten. Since the 1990s, it has served as a municipal office. The original living rooms have been transformed into offices and facilities for the public. On the main floor, accessible by an outdoor staircase, is a central stair hall with original wooden paneling and staircase. From there, one enters the offices of the office – the registry, Czech POINT, and the registry office.

"It is the result of long-term and meaningful work by 'x' people. The journey began in 2016 when we became Village of the Year for the Plzeň region and received a subsidy. And when we thought about where to put it, we realized that after the waterworks and sewage systems, it was finally time to also tackle the building that was embarrassing us at that time, which was the municipal office," Týzl said. He added that when the builders took down the scaffolding after ten years, he admired the wonderful transformation of the building. "And from the reactions of the public that followed, we felt that something extraordinary had been achieved," Týzl stated. According to him, the restoration would never have been completed without the help of the region and the Ministry of Culture.

The municipality also built a new classroom on unused land of the primary school, which children will start using from September. The school is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. "We put in 12 million crowns, with 8.5 million coming from a grant," Týzl said. There is also a new parking lot for 41 cars with 24/7 open restrooms on the approach from Plzeň. It cost 5.5 million CZK, of which over four million came from the European IROP program.