The Písek villa Marta, which was affected by a fire, is being repaired by the owner for residential purposes

Písek – The Písek villa Marta, which was affected by a fire last night, is to be renovated for residential purposes by its owner. The fire, which caused damage of nearly one million crowns, primarily damaged the roof and trusses of the abandoned building. Marek Anděl, a city councilor from Písek srdcem a rozumem, whose family owns the villa, told ČTK today.

"What we did on that house burned. The trusses and roof were new, nothing else was significantly damaged. I read on social media that I did it myself and that I want to sell the villa or make building plots in its place. But none of that is true. It still stands that I want to repair the villa and create housing for my family. And I don’t know why I would set it on fire since I won't get a penny from the insurance company. Because no one insures such old houses," said Anděl.

He acquired the villa with his family more than 20 years ago from the former owners. The house was built in the 1920s by Písek banker Jaroslav Šimek. He named it after his wife, with whom he had two daughters.

After the communist coup in 1948, the state seized the villa and left the owners with just one room. The younger daughter of the banker, Dagmar Šimková, was imprisoned for 14 years in the 1950s by the communist regime due to alleged distribution of anti-regime leaflets. The older daughter, also named Marta, emigrated in the meantime. After being released from prison, Šimková fled abroad with her mother and headed to Australia to join her sister. She wrote a book about her time in prison titled "We Were There Too." The publication was first released in 1980 by the Škvorecký publishing house.

"We bought the villa from Marta, after whose mother the house was named. Marta's sister Dagmar was no longer alive at that time," said Anděl. Dagmar Šimková died in 1995. Anděl added that he bought the villa with his family, with whom he wanted to live in the building. "But we haven’t managed to gather enough money for the reconstruction yet, which will be costly. In the meantime, our whole family has secured housing in other places. However, I do not intend to step back from the original plan. I still want to repair the villa so that it serves the purposes for which it was built. I already have grandchildren, so perhaps they will live in the villa," said Anděl.