Kutná Hora wants to repair the functionalist Zelenka Villa for 33 million CZK

Kutná Hora - Kutná Hora is preparing to renovate the functionalist Zelenka villa, which will provide facilities for a caregiving service. There will also be a community garden near the villa, primarily for seniors from the Hlouška and Šipší housing estates. The project is expected to cost 33 million crowns, and the city aims to secure a subsidy for it, said Mayor Lukáš Seifert (ODS) to ČTK.

"We would like to start the work next year," the mayor stated. Costs have increased compared to initial estimates; the renovation was originally planned to cost eight million crowns less. "It is an architecturally valuable building, and we have decided not to damage it," the mayor added.

The former factory owner's villa on Masaryk Street was home to Leo and Gréta Reiniger from 1939 to 1942. The two-story functionalist building was designed for them by the prominent Czech architect, scenographer, and designer František Zelenka. The Reinigers ended up in a concentration camp due to their Jewish origins, from which they never returned. Later, there were nurseries or a special kindergarten for disabled children in the Zelenka villa. The building has undergone several adaptations and extensions.

The villa's basement served the original owners as a technical facility with a boiler room, coal storage, laundry, drying room, and caretaker's apartment. In the raised ground floor, there was a kitchen, dining room, spacious hall with an adjacent study and winter garden. The house also included rooms for family members, a governess, servants, and a guest room.