The reconstruction of Villa Čerych in the Náchod region has been completed, and it will house a creative center

Česká Skalice (Náchod) – The reconstruction of the culturally protected Čerych Villa in Náchod has been completed, where the Kaplicky Creative Centre is being established for 60 million crowns. This is a project of the Kaplicky Centre Foundation, which operates the villa. Jozef Lucák, the director of the foundation, told ČTK. The majority of the costs were covered by grants. Since 2022, the villa has belonged to Eliška Kaplický Fuchsová, the widow of architect Jan Kaplický.

The villa's reconstruction, including project preparations, cost 46 million crowns, with additional expenses for furnishing and landscaping. The stated prices do not include tax.

"The reconstruction of Čerych Villa, which we began with the handover of the construction site on January 8, 2024, was completed on August 6 this year. We are now in the approval phase, which we believe will successfully conclude our many years of effort to save the main 'character' of Václav Havel's film Leaving. We aim to put the Kaplicky Creative Centre into operation immediately after approval," Lucák stated. The rondocubist villa gained fame from the film Leaving directed by Václav Havel.

Finishing work continues on the property, such as laying carpets, installing new gastro technologies, furnishing rooms, and also installing DCI digital premiere cinema technology with a Barco projector and Dolby sound. "The cinema will be in regular operation in the multifunctional hall on the top floor of the villa starting from October," Lucák noted. Besides Eliška Kaplický, film critic Kamil Fila is also significantly involved in the cinema's programming, according to him.

The villa has received a new roof with the original covering, and builders have created a multifunctional cinema hall in the attic. The functions of the ground floor halls have also been restored. The property now includes gallery spaces and the accommodation capacity has increased, which will be used mainly by participants of the creative center's programs from among students, professionals, and creatives.

Investments into the culturally protected Art Nouveau garden designed by Josef Kumpán have so far amounted to around 1.7 million crowns. For example, a historical gazebo was restored for 1.2 million crowns, and additional hundreds of thousands of crowns were needed to build a parking lot for 15 vehicles in the southern part of the garden. Further investments in the garden are being prepared, including a renovation of the swimming pool. The equipment for the creative center has so far cost around five million crowns.

The establishment of the center fits into the broader concept of preserving the legacy of the Kaplický family in Náchod. Jiřina Kaplická, the mother of architect Jan Kaplický, was born on March 30, 1901, in Náchod, where she spent a large part of her life. For this purpose, Náchod representatives approved a memorandum of cooperation with the Kaplicky Centre Foundation in December 2022.

"The memorandum with Náchod reached a significant milestone when naming the emerging alley in Běloves Spa, as Eliška ensured the consent of all descendants of Jiřina Kaplická, the mother of Jan Kaplický, for the use of her name," Lucák added.

Jan Kaplický (1937-2009) was a prominent architect who worked in Britain after his emigration from then-Czechoslovakia in 1968.