Villa Rothmayer in Prague. Modest, elegant, enchanting and complex

The beautiful home of a talented but obscure early modern Czech architect

Have you ever heard of the Czech architect Otto Rothmayer? If you haven’t it’s not surprising. When I tried to look for background information for this post, everything I found on Google was in Czech. On our recent trip to Prague, we learnt about the house he built, and managed to book a visit. It was amazing.

What follows is based on what I remember from the guided visit, supplemented by a few bits and pieces I found online.

Otto Rothmayer (1892 - 1966) began his working life as a carpenter, but then decided to go into architecture. I didn’t realise you could do that sort of thing in those days, but there you are. He studied in Prague under Jože Plečník, the architect responsible for renovations at Prague Castle. Rothmayer later became Plečník’s assistant at the castle, where he continued to work or many years.

The Villa Rothmayer was built between 1928 and 1929, and is located in the suburbs of Prague, and is modest in scale. From the street, you see a well-proportioned, symmetrical façade. It's not particularly striking, and easily overlooked.

The entrance is the to side, underneath a covered courtyard that looks out into the garden. The plan is symmetrical, with a central circular staircase. The house is smaller than it looks from the outside, as the building is not very deep.

http://en.muzeumprahy.cz/1124-villa-rothmayer/

This is the elegant spiral staircase, within a concrete cylinder. It reminded me of the one in Goldfinger's house at 2 Willow Road in Hampstead, which I had visited quite recently.

http://www.prague.eu/en/event/8131/the-story-of-a-house-and-a-family

The interior was charming. The furnishings were predominantly of varnished wood, much of it made by the architect himself, who, as you recall, had started off as a carpenter. He and his wife had separate bedrooms, which were also their workspaces.

http://en.muzeumprahy.cz/1124-villa-rothmayer/

http://en.muzeumprahy.cz/1124-villa-rothmayer/

http://en.muzeumprahy.cz/1124-villa-rothmayer/

Otto's wife, Božena (1899 - 1984), was a well-known fabric designer, and a thoroughly modern woman, who cut her hair short and wore trousers. Their son Jan (1932 - 2010) was an electrical engineer and photographer, who installed all manner of gadgets and monitoring systems around the house.

To make the best use of the limited space, there were clever devices like concealed cabinets, and space-saving furniture with panels that slid or swung in or out so that their use could be modified.  Rothmayer was a great collector of stuff, some of which was on display. The rest was in a room in the basement where the curators are sorting it out. There were many things I would have liked to have photographed but this was not permitted inside the house.

The garden was magical. Instead of formal sculpture, various bricks, tiles, pots and other simple objects were arranged in beautiful assemblies.

http://www.prague.eu/en/articles/villa-rothmayer-something-new-on-the-map-of-prague-sights-11946

Photography was allowed outside, where I did take some pictures.

Here, with the house in the background, you can see the cylindrical element which houses the staircase

And here are some details:

It certainly gave me food for thought with regard to my own garden.

The famous one-armed photographer Josef Sudek was a good friend of the family, and he took many photographs of the house and its garden. Here are a few of them:

https://artblart.com/tag/remembrance-of-mr-magician-the-garden-of-architect-rothmayer/

https://artblart.com/tag/remembrance-of-mr-magician-the-garden-of-architect-rothmayer/

https://artblart.com/tag/remembrance-of-mr-magician-the-garden-of-architect-rothmayer/

The Rothmayer family survived the second world war unscathed (they were not Jewish, as I thought they might have been), and managed to stay on in their house through the communist period. After the death of their son, the house was was given to the city as a museum.

The Villa Tugendhat in Brno, which I visited during the same trip, was magnificent, the house of a tycoon. The nearby Villa Müller, deigned by Adolf Loos, is another grand house (which I also visited, and might write about later). The Villa Rothmayer, in contrast, was the modest home of a professional couple and their son, but equally fascinating, and really worth a visit.

For another visitor's account of a visit (which I used to jog my memory), see

Tracy's Travels: Rothmayer Villa Diary

Villa Rothmayer

U Páté baterie 896
162 00 Prague 6 ‒ Břevnov
Open on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday
Tours start: 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. .
"Visit of the villa is only possible by prior reservation!" ... and only 7 people are allowed in at any one time. See website

(Combined ticket available for the Villa Rothmayer and Villa Müller. Highly recommended)

Things I have been enjoying in Prague

I'm now into the second week of my trip to Prague (of which most of the first week was spent attending a medical meeting). Prague is, of course, a well known and popular tourist destination. However, some of the things I have particularly enjoyed are not necessarily those which get the most attention in the guide books.

Architecture

Prague is well known for its historic centre, with it's mediaeval towers, baroque architecture, castle, and the famous statue-lined Charles Bridge, and these are marvellous. However, there is another aspect which I found particularly interesting: the early modern architecture.

Cubism arose in France, and the art movement spread elsewhere in Europe, but it was only the Czechs who extended it to include furniture, household items, and architecture. This was a short-lived movement, which began around 1912 and lasted for only a few years until the mid 1920s, but today you can still see cubist buildings in good condition. In one of them, the so-called House of the Black Madonna, there is a delightful cafe on the first floor with a cubist interior and cubist furnishings, the Cafe Grand Orient. Above this is the Museum of Czech Cubism, and on the ground floor is the Kubista shop where you can buy replicas of cubist design.

Here are pictures of the exhibits in the museum, from my Facebook gallery (please feel to follow me on Facebook):

Here are some cubist buildings I saw in Prague:

The Czechs took to modernism in a big way after The Czechoslovak Republic was formed in the aftermath of the First World War and the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian empire. As I understand it, this was one of the ways in which the new democratic republic could distinguish itself from the backward empire from which it had been liberated. 

There were later developments from cubism, such as "rondo-cubism", and later on there were Art Deco and modernist buildings. Prior to Cubism, there was Art Nouveau and Historicst architecture during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a lot of it around, varied and and fascinating to look at.

Beer

As a beer enthusiast living in England I have been drinking rather more ale than lager. Here in Prague it has been once to drink good quality lager for a change. In particular, I have enjoyed drinking the dark beer, which is not widely available in Britain. Contrary to what you might expect, the dark beers are not at all heavy, and you should not be misled by the colour. 

Quite a few of the bars here serve beer "from the tank", which has not been subjected to the usual preservative processes, giving a better and fresher taste. It's worth keeping an eye out for the words "tankova" or "tanku" outside a bar which inform the prospective customers of the availability of this sort of beer. They also serve unfiltered (nefiltrovane) beer, which I rather like. 

Lemonade

Prague is associated with beer, but they also do a great line in non-alcoholic drinks, specifically the local "lemonade". Most bars and restaurants serve lemonade which over here means a refreshing drink, made on the premises, flavoured with a variety of fruit, and not too sweet. It's more intensely flavoured than those flavoured bottles of mineral water that you get in Brtiain and elsewhere, but less so than English lemonade. We plan to try making it at home when we get back. 

Coffee

Most places seem to serve the usual espresso-based stuff, generally of a reasonable standard, but you can still get the old-fashioned Czech preparation known as Turecka, or Turkish coffee in the English-language menus, which is the Czech version of Turkish coffee. It's black coffee served in a glass with the grounds still in, rather like cafetière or so-called French press coffee, but without the plunger and filter. If you want a long coffee, it's a good alternative to an americano, and less bitter. I like it and I wish it were more widely available.

Food

Eastern and Central European food seems to have a bit of a poor reputation in English speaking countries but I think this is due to ignorance. I haven't sampled the whole range of the local cuisine, but what I've had I have liked. There's a lot of pork, often with lots of sauce, and often accompanied by dumplings. There are different sorts of dumplings, including one which are rather like bread and excellent for soaking up the gravy.

There are some unusual dishes, such as Svíčková, beef served in a creamy, sweetish sweet sauce, served with cranberries, and whipped cream. It's strange, but enjoyable.

Another popular dish is cheese fried  in breadcrumbs, served with tartare sauce which is delicious.

Both are illustrated below. 

Some of the bar snacks are pretty unusual as well. Cheese soaked in oiled and spices, pickled sausages and so on. The ones I have tried have been great, and I hope to try more during this trip.

I should also mention the wonderful open sandwiches, sold in cafes at lunch time, of which I illustrate a small selection.

So far I have been having a rather nice time. I find Prague a very congenial place, and there is lots more to see and do than I have described here. I fancy I would like to make a return trip in the not too distant future.