About the site
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the area of the so-called Kylešovský Hill was a popular destination for walks among the people of Opava. Already in the early 20th century, the Kylešovský Belt (Gilschwitzer-Gürtel) included several prominent buildings, such as the Marianum (1908). After 1918, as the housing crisis grew with the arrival of new state and provincial employees, Kylešovský Hill was transformed into a residential quarter. Over time, it came to be regarded as a “good address”, and so, after his retirement, architect Karl Gottwald had a villa built here to his own design. The construction was probably also prompted by his marriage shortly beforehand, as he moved into the new home with his wife and her son from her first marriage.
In designing his villa, Gottwald combined his characterisic romanticizing decorativism with elements of Heimatstil. The two-storey house with a tall hipped roof, aligned directly with the street line, faces the street with a single-storey service wing and from this side appears closed, yet simultaneously representative. This impression is heightened by the sculptural treatment of the entrance portal, adorned with figures of Adam and Eve (somewhat curiously depicted as children), the head of a laughing devil, birds, dogs and grapevine motifs. The sculptor was Max Ludwig (1893–1940) from Vrbno pod Pradědem. The ornamental motifs of the window grilles are repeated in the surviving gate leaves and a small entrance gate. The garden elevation is designed differently, with a projecting single-storey risalit supporting the terrace above. The recessed entrance in the centre of the risalit is accessed via a small terrace with a pair of side staircases. On the street side, the layout included the architect’s office and the household’s service rooms (a kitchen with ironing and dressing room), while the garden side housed the living quarters, with reception rooms on the ground floor and bedrooms on the upper floor.
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