Prague will appeal against the demolition of the villa in Prague 5

Prague - The Prague City Hall will appeal against the demolition permit for a villa from the early 20th century on Nad Výšinkou Street in Prague 5. City councillors approved this at an extraordinary meeting today. Among other parties, the appeal was prompted by the local district, which disagrees with the demolition and cannot submit the appeal itself. The villa, which was built according to the design of architect and builder Viktor Beneš between 1909 and 1911, is owned by Valérie Haščáková, the wife of Jaroslav Haščák, co-owner of the investment group Penta.

The demolition order for the villa in the Na Hřebenkách district was issued by the building authority of Prague 5 on Friday, July 9, with the deadline for appeal expiring on Wednesday, according to Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates). According to him, the appeal is already prepared. "It will not be a problem to meet the deadline tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said.

Against the plan to demolish the villa, organizations such as the Club for Old Prague and the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences have spoken out. The club stated that the decision of the building authority to permit the demolition seems ill-considered for many reasons. Therefore, it considers it a moral duty of society to achieve the declaration of this villa as a cultural monument as quickly as possible and thus save it from demolition. According to the club, the villa represents a "unique stylistic shade" in the then Prague villa architecture, without clearer parallels in other family residences from this period. The architect gave it the form of an aristocratic residence, a kind of small castle, inspired by English villa architecture from the second half of the 19th century. According to the club, the artistic and craft decorations of the villa are unique.

The Institute of Art History today addressed an open letter to the Prague mayor, urging him to try to save the villa. Art historians emphasize what they see as its irreplaceable role in the urbanism of the Na Hřebenkách villa district. "Both its location in an elevated position and its relatively large dimensions have given it the role of an urban dominant," they stated. A significant part of the surrounding younger construction also responds to this building, not only in its size but also in its architectural conception.

Hřib reiterated today that the city administration considers the villa valuable and disagrees with its demolition. The mayor further stated that the council also agreed today to submit a request for the declaration of the building as a cultural monument in cooperation with Prague 5. He mentioned that there are more requests headed to the Ministry of Culture, and petitions against the demolition have also emerged.

Petr Zeman (Prague Sobě), chairman of the city council's committee for urban development, added that being included on the list of cultural monuments will not automatically mean saving the villa, as there are monuments in the capital that their owners allow to deteriorate over time. According to Zeman, the villa is specific, which will require finding a suitable use for it. He stated that he is trying to contact the villa's owner, which he has not yet succeeded in doing. He has therefore asked Penta to facilitate the dialogue.

Haščáková previously wrote to Deník N that she is selling the villa and the new owner intends to build another family house on its site. CTK has so far been unable to obtain her statement.

Prague 5 stated that the building authority had no choice but to permit the demolition, as the owners provided all the necessary opinions and the building is not protected as a monument. The building authority falls under state administration, and local self-governance cannot influence its decisions. Nevertheless, the local authority disagrees with the demolition and, in addition to the request for monument protection, wants to advocate for the expansion of protected monument zones in Prague 5 to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.