The Čerych Villa in Česká Skalice is for sale, its mission is set to continue

Česká Skalice – The architecturally protected Villa Čerych in Česká Skalice is for sale for 28 million crowns. There is no risk that the villa, famous from the film Leaving directed by Václav Havel, will fall into the wrong hands, said Taťána Plecháčková, director of the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society (NROS), to ČTK. The foundation owns the villa. The mission of the Art Deco-style villa is to serve as an educational and cultural center, as it has done under its previous operator.

"Given that the villa has long needed investment and operational financing, the foundation decided to either sell the villa or find a long-term operator. The villa needs reconstruction costing millions to tens of millions of crowns, and we cannot allow it to continue to deteriorate," Plecháčková told ČTK.

Since the end of last year, the real estate agency has offered the property to a narrower circle of interested parties from non-profit organizations, public institutions, philanthropists, or patrons, and since April, the villa has been officially on the market. "Only after all possibilities of reaching out to a narrower circle were exhausted did we proceed to publication," said Plecháčková to ČTK.

The operator of the villa, the organization Centrum rozvoje Česká Skalice, ended its activities in the building in 2019. Since then, the foundation has unsuccessfully attempted to find a new operator. "Unfortunately, that has not succeeded, which is why the foundation offered the villa for sale. In the brokerage contract, it stipulated the right to refuse interested parties who would not fulfill the legacy of Ladislav Čerych with their activities," the director told ČTK.

The NROS acquired the property along with its adjacent garden in 2001 as a gift from the Čerych brothers, to whom the property was returned in restitution. The estimated value of the property from 2015 recorded in the foundation's assets is 23 million crowns. According to Plecháčková, this is why it is not possible to donate the villa. "The foundation cannot just give the villa as a gift and reduce its value by 23 million crowns; it would have to be compensated with a similar value. However, at this moment, there is no such money available," Plecháčková told ČTK.

According to her, the difference between the published price and the estimated price is also due to the fact that project documentation for the reconstruction has already been prepared; it includes curved equipment, VAT, and the commission of the real estate agency. "If a serious and suitable buyer were found, we would be willing to negotiate on the price. The foundation is not in a position to lower the price below the value of 23 million crowns that is recorded in the foundation's assets," Plecháčková said to ČTK.

The town of Česká Skalice, with a population of five thousand, is also considering how to utilize the villa. According to Mayor Zuzana Jungwirthová, however, the town does not have the money to buy the property. She considers it problematic for the town to fulfill the tenant's obligation to ensure maintenance work. "First and foremost, we need to discuss this at the city council, and then we will see. I would really like the town to have the villa, but as a mayor, I know it is a financial project that the town does not currently have the funds for," Jungwirthová told ČTK.

She believes the best solution would be for an organization to rent the villa and host activities, as the previous operator did.