79 year old beauty

It's a lazy Saturday morning. And I don't feel like staying at home, at all. I pack my camera and walk through half the city to reach the beautiful Villa Tugendhat on the hill where Černá Pole is now located. I've been meaning to ask permission to make a photosession, no matter how much it costs.

There I was, almost to the villa. Damn, I love that building. I love every bit of it. I would, one day, gladly build my own Villa Tugendhat, but I fear no matter how much I try, I will never match the simple beauty of the already existing one.

The tour-guide greeted me in her not-so-good English (but then again, I've been mistaken by native speakers for an American, so I guess it's only normal I dismiss other people's English... did I mention I've been also working as a teacher for the past year?) and after a 10-minute talk we arranged to come on Sunday with the last group of the day to take pictures of the Villa. Bliss! One can't be more happier than when she gets the chance to include one of her all-time favorite buildings in her portfolio.

I'll give you a brief history of the Villa's 79-year long life and then lead you on a tour around the house.

The Villa was built between 1929 and 1930 by the German architect Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe for the Tugendhat family. They lived in it for the brief period of 8 years, after which they were forced to emigrate and they never came back to live in it.

During WWII it was used by the Germans and Russians, the latter using the house as a stable and ruining it almost completely. In 1992 Vaclav Havel and Vladimír Mečiar signed the agreement according to which as of January 1st 1993 Czechoslovakia split into The Czech Republic and Slovakia in the Villa. The first time it opened for the public was in 1994, with the first renovation of the house back in the 80s. UNESCO enlisted the Villa in 2001.

Currently all of the furniture in it is designed by Van der Rohe, with the famous red chair being the only piece of original furniture that was found in the Villa (original chair is, of course, currently in a museum). For the bigger part, almost everything in the Villa was sold before it was opened for public viewing. What you see today are copies of the originals, most made with the only reference of black and white photographs.

The entrance fee for adults is 120 CZK and 60 CZK for students. Tours and additional information is available in English. You can check out the official website for information and reservations here. I'd recommend to anyone who's in Brno to make a reservation, because this Villa is worth seeing, if not for anything else, for the fact that it was built 80 years ago and is more beautiful than most houses built today both as interior and exterior.