Praha 10 presented the villa of Karel Čapek

Prague - Prague 10 today officially presented a part of the twin villa of writer Karel Čapek. Invited visitors were able to view the spaces that have remained unchanged since Čapek's death. The spirit of the First Czechoslovak Republic has not disappeared from the rooms where the leading representatives of pre-war Czechoslovakia used to meet. The unique spaces of the villa could open to the public next year, said the mayor of Prague 10, Bohumil Zoufalík, to ČTK. The municipality purchased the property at the end of September from the heirs of Karel's wife, Olga Scheinpflugová, for nearly 44 million crowns.
    The Čapek brothers had the twin house built in Vinohrady between 1923 and 1924 based on the design of architect Ladislav Machoň. Half of it is inhabited by the heirs of Josef Čapek, while the other half is occupied by relatives of Olga Scheinpflugová.
    The current owner, Karel Scheinpflug, grandnephew of Olga, decided to sell the house for financial reasons. "The maintenance of the villa is expensive," he told journalists, adding that the house is slowly aging and requires repairs. After the heirs' income from royalties ended, Scheinpflug unsuccessfully tried to obtain funds from various grants. Ultimately, he decided to sell the villa.
    The value of the house lies primarily in the integrity of its interior and its furnishings. The rooms on the upper floor have been preserved as they were last used by Čapek, and other residents of the house only entered to clean. In one of the rooms, for example, there is a chair that was used by President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. "Since his death, no one has sat in it," Scheinpflug noted. A mourning ribbon is still placed on the back of the chair.
    In the sideboard in the room where the famous Friday Group met, there are period tableware and glasses with numbers so that each guest can recognize their glass. On the table in the study are newspapers with an unfinished crossword puzzle, and there is still a record playing on the gramophone. A cookbook with dishes that were offered to the Friday Group has also been preserved. "They were typical Czech dishes, like pork schnitzel," Scheinpflug noted.
    The ground floor is still inhabited by Scheinpflug's family. They are expected to move out by the end of the year. After that, the city council would like to open the villa to the public. Experts are to decide on the most suitable way to do this. Until then, the monument will be closed and thoroughly secured against thieves.
    "The purchase of the villa does not end here, but begins. I would be pleased if Prague 10 became the Prague of the Čapek Brothers," said Mayor Bohumil Zoufalík. He would like to not only commemorate the personality of Karel Čapek in the villa but also use it for cultural purposes. In some form, he would like to revive the famous gatherings of distinguished personalities from the First Republic.
    According to Zoufalík, the house will need to be repaired. Prague 10 currently does not know how much the reconstruction will cost, but the mayor estimated this amount to be in the tens of millions. For the property itself, Prague 10 paid 28 million crowns, and for the historical inventory, they paid 15.891 million.