This is a rare example of a successful renovation project of a historic house in Bucharest or the entire Romania for that matter. The building is a beautiful example of an early (1900s) Neo-Romanian style edifice (prevalence of Ottoman Balkan church architectural motifs) with many Art Nouveau and ‘Little Paris’ style decorations fashionable at that time. The project is still unfurling, an workman can be seen toiling away on a platform at the entrance, having to go through some more stages until completion, like exterior wall painting, etc. (fin de siecle Bucharest buildings were decorated in an explosion of garish, but balanced colours). The owner and initiator of this renovation project is most probably a western individual or organisation. An indigenous owner would most probably have in mind a quick flip of the property on the market at a ridiculous price above that of central London property, with his/her renovation vision being limited to that of poorly cultured nouveau riche individuals that plague Eastern Europe, engaging in destructive actions such as erasing the period architectural decoration, placing cheap double glazing windows and in general mutilating the building in the vain belief that his/her ‘modernising’ actions would add great value to it.
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I endeavor through this daily image series to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural heritage.
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If you plan acquiring a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in locating the property, specialist research, planning permissions, restoration project management, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 