The Capek Brothers' house in Budislava will once again have its original interiors

The cottage, which was already in a state of disrepair, was established at the suggestion of writer Karel Čapek for the gathering and relaxation of Czech literati. It has been closed since the year before last and repairs are ongoing. The cottage is expected to open the tourist season next year.

According to period photographs, replicas of furniture are being completed, some tables have been preserved and are now being renovated. "We are trying to maintain the style in which the cottage was built, because there was a reconstruction done in the 1970s, where the original furniture was replaced with that famous laminate and particle board," Heger said.

Besides the interiors, there are plans to repair the wooden façade. The rooms and amenities will be finished earlier, and part of the season could still be managed. However, the manager would prefer if all the work was completed without interruptions.

Since the year before last, workers have gradually replaced the floors on the terraces, repaired water supply lines, sewage pipes, and heating systems. The cost of the reconstruction will be around 3.5 million crowns, funded by grants from the Pardubice Region and the Ministry of Culture.

"Now we can suddenly do more than we could before. Previously, we worked with smaller sponsorship donations from private individuals, and we also took a loan from the savings bank to keep the work from stopping," said Jiří Dědeček, a poet and songwriter, chairman of the PEN Club that owns the building, to ČTK.

The building was designed by architect Stanislav Tobek, a student of Josef Gočár. The two-story cottage is made of wood, stands on a stone base, and has four protruding loggias. The building was constructed from the proceeds of the 16th congress of PEN clubs, which took place in Prague in 1938. Writer Karel Čapek also financially contributed to it, but he did not live to see its opening.