Kutná Hora is preparing a reconstruction of the functionalist Zelenka Villa

Kutná Hora - Kutná Hora is preparing to renovate the functionalist Zelenka Villa, which will house facilities for a caretaking service. The estimated costs are 25 million crowns, and the city aims to obtain a grant for the project, said Mayor Lukáš Seifert (ODS) to ČTK.

The council approved the signing of a contract with a company that will prepare the application for support from the National Recovery Plan. The city should submit it this month or, at the latest, in May. According to the mayor, the grant could cover up to 85 percent of the costs. The villa is expected to be repaired by the end of next year or, at the latest, by mid-2025.

"The house is architecturally significant. We would like to create facilities and space for outpatient and field care services there," Seifert stated. The city also wants to create a community garden near the villa, which would primarily serve the elderly from the Hlouška and Šipší housing estates. "So that they have a safe place to spend time outside," Seifert added.

The former industrialist's villa on Masaryk Street was inhabited by Leo and Gréta Reiniger from 1939 to 1942. The two-story building in the functionalist style was designed for them by the prominent Czech architect, scenographer, and designer František Zelenka. The Reinigers ended up in a concentration camp due to their Jewish origins, from which they did not return. Later, the Zelenka Villa housed a nursery and a special kindergarten for children with disabilities. The building has undergone numerous adaptations and extensions.

The basement of the villa originally served as a technical facility with a boiler room, coal storage, laundry, drying room, and caretaker's apartment. The raised ground floor featured a kitchen, dining room, spacious hall with an adjacent study, and winter garden. The house also contained rooms for family members, educators, maids, and a guest room.