About the site
Apart from Kylešovský Hill, where villa construction began to develop rapidly after 1918, another part of Opava earmarked for residential development lay to the south-west of the historic core, between Otická, Olomoucká, and today’s Englišova streets. The impulse for expansion in this direction was the construction of the Masaryk State Higher Agriculture School together with the adjoining grounds of the State Agricultural Research Station (Purkyňova Street 12). This district arose from the former estates of the Teutonic Order known as the Komenda, which were confiscated during the land reform, with the name later used for the entire new quarter. Its centre became today’s Englišova Street, then Kommendeweg. The architecture of the Komenda was not particularly distinctive, consisting largely of ordinary, sometimes even standardized houses by local builders. However, several houses stood out – among them the villa of the Opava architect Johann (Hans) Kalitta, called Trautesheim (“Cosy Home”), which the owner designed for himself and had built by Erich Geldner’s firm on Holteiova Street (now Gogolova).
The detached two-storey house with a residential attic and mansard roof lives up to its name. From the butterfly-shaped floor plan, which determines the interior arrangement, through the Baroque-inspired massing with semicircular and rectangular projections, down to the details – a small tower with a bell-shaped roof, windows of various shapes and sizes, wooden shutters, or a medallion with a figurative painting. The façade, finished with textured render, contrasts with smooth plastered surfaces ending in round arches around rectangular windows. The main entrance with projecting artificial-stone steps is set in a semicircular bay with a bell-shaped canopy. The round-arched portal is flanked by pilasters with stylized leaf capitals and lozenge motifs, while the single-leaf wooden door is original, complete with a decorative grille. Similar grilles protect the basement windows. The southern garden façade also features a projecting semicircular bay with an attic addition and small mansard roof. An oval painted medallion depicting a dancing woman adorns the eastern façade. The original copper downpipes showcase finely crafted collector details. The interior layout follows the unusual “butterfly” plan. The “body” is the vestibule with staircase in the northern semicircular bay and an octagonal hall, from which the “wings” extend: eastward to a living room and bedroom, westward to a dining room and kitchen with service facilities. The "head" in the southern bay houses an oval salon on the ground floor, connected to both the living room and dining room by glazed partitions that allow the spaces to flow together. Above, the architect's study occupied the corresponding attic space, while the remaining attic area contained a small apartment.
The interior has survived almost intact, including panelled ceilings, a tiled stove with wrought-bronze doors, a stained-glass window depicting a seated female figure, and original door panels. The
villa’s immediate surroundings were originally designed as a park-like garden featuring flower beds, weeping willows, and three types of conifers arranged symmetrically around the perimeter, all enclosed by a privet hedge. However, the garden was not intended for leisure but served primarily to enhance the villa’s appearance and prominence in its setting. After 1945, the villa was placed under national administration and later passed through several private owners. A garage was added in the 1960s and a greenhouse in the 1980s.
Kalitta’s villa is a fine example of decorativist architecture with elements of pre-war Neo-Biedermeier. At the same time, in contrast with the then emerging functionalism and Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), it illustrates the conservatism not only of its author but of Opava of that period as a whole.
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