Beneš's villa in Sez. Ústí is renovated, will open in May

Sezimovo Ústí (Táborsko) - The three-year restoration of Beneš's villa in Sezimovo Ústí in Táborsko is complete, and the building will open to the public on May 28. It will be more accessible than before; interested parties will be able to tour the villa from May until the end of October, every last weekend of the month. The reconstruction, including the furnishing of the interiors, cost nearly 20 million crowns, said outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek to journalists today. He believes that by making the villa accessible and returning it to its original appearance, the legacy of the Beneš couple will be fulfilled.
Topolánek described the reconstruction cost as acceptable. "Our intention was to do it very sensitively and without any major interventions. Mainly to remove the layer of communist reconstruction and give it the look it had before 1974, when Hana Benešová passed away," summarized Topolánek. According to him, the main attraction for visitors is the atmosphere, the spirit of the place where interesting people used to meet and discuss.
The second Czechoslovak president, Edvard Beneš, spent the last moments of his life in this villa. His wife, Hana, bequeathed the villa and adjacent land to the Tabor museum in her will from 1973, so it would serve as a memorial to her husband. However, during socialism, it was converted into a recreational residence used by state officials. According to Topolánek, it is no longer expected that officials would regularly vacation there. On the second floor, however, there are spaces for government visits and a prime minister's room.
The basis of the exhibition on the ground floor is the dining room and living hall featuring the president's favorite nook, including a comfortable armchair. The first floor includes access to the study and the bedroom where Beneš died. These two rooms were open to the public eleven times a year before the reconstruction, always on the occasion of state holidays and anniversaries of the Beneš couple. Otherwise, those interested could only get acquainted with the presidential statesmanship and the private lives of the Beneš couple in an exhibition that was created in the house beneath the villa in 2005.
The project team, led by architect Orlin Ilinčev, prepared a design for the villa's restoration, under which the social rooms on the ground floor returned to their original form from the 1930s. The dark wooden paneling has been removed from the interior, and the rooms now feel airy and bright. "Compared to the past, this is a significant difference because now it is furnished with period furniture," explained historian Michal Kolář, who served as a professional adviser during the reconstruction. The rooms contain antiques as well as furniture from the 1930s, with some pieces, such as the sofa and chairs in the dining room, custom-made. The new color scheme for the villa's façade and shutters is also based on period photographic documentation.