The European Heritage Days will open the Kantor Villa in Jablonec nad Nisou as well

Jablonec nad Nisou – European Heritage Days (EHD) will open the normally inaccessible Kantor Villa to visitors in Jablonec nad Nisou. Eight guided tours are prepared, each for 20 interested parties, said the city hall spokesperson Jana Fričová today to ČTK. This will probably be the last opportunity to peek into the functionalist villa before the planned reconstruction. The city hall would like to start work this fall; they are currently looking for a contractor. The project costs are estimated by the designers at 48 million crowns.

The villa near the Jablonec dam was built by doctor Alfréd Kantor and is one of the most valuable buildings of this style in the region. The four-story house resembles the famous Müller Villa in Prague, completed in 1934 according to the design of Heinrich Kulka, a student and close collaborator of the classic of modern architecture Adolf Loos. The family had to leave the villa after the war and moved to Germany. Although the house underwent an insensitive renovation in the 1960s into apartments, some original elements have been preserved. The city hall purchased the villa in 2017, paying 8.121 million crowns for it.

For the restoration of the protected villa, the city hall announced an architectural competition in 2023, with 28 studios and workshops applying. The winner was the Prague studio Objektor architects, which then developed the project documentation. "We will try to preserve everything that remains here and was designed by architect Kulka. Unfortunately, not much has been preserved; the interventions in the 1960s were quite drastic," architect Jakub Červenka told ČTK earlier.

The restoration of the villa, including equipment, landscaping, and exhibitions, is estimated to cost Jablonec about 65 million crowns excluding VAT, of which the city received 45 million from EU and Liberec Region funds. "It's not just an ordinary renovation of a house. We are restoring an exceptionally valuable building, where it is necessary to respect the original architecture, materials, and individual historical elements. The scope of the restoration work reflects this," said Deputy Mayor Jakub Chuchlík (Pirates).

A visitor center with an exhibition will be created in the villa, and the originally partially preserved built-in furniture and other preserved components will be professionally restored. In the newly adapted spaces, an educational center will be established, with lectures for schools, as well as for specialists and the general public. The city hall plans a year-round operation for which it will create technical and technological facilities. The renovated villa is expected to open to visitors in spring 2029.

Kantor Villa is not the only monument that will open to visitors in Jablonec nad Nisou on Saturday, September 19. "As part of the European Heritage Days, 26 monuments will be opened in the city, and for the first time, people will be able to visit the public transport depot in Pražská Street, where the original tram depot with parking halls from the late 19th century is still used for bus transport services," Fričová said. Churches, the Sokol building, theater, or town hall will also be open, as well as the Mšeno dam tunnel or the former brewery.