Viktor Beneš’s villa in Hřebenky: Will it go to the ground?
A unique villa with elements of English architecture was built in Hřebenky in 1912. It was built for himself and his family by the then builder Viktor Beneš, who is in attendance among other things, the reconstruction of the Invalidovna, during which its electrification took place. In the eighties, the villa was partially rebuilt and housed Czech Radio, and after the revolution until 2004, the communication agency Leo Burnett. In 2007, the Haščák family bought the property, but the villa has never been inhabited and has been empty and dilapidated since 2004.
Demolition sales
As he informed DiaryN, Valéria Haščáková has been trying to sell the villa for several years. Now the buyers have finally managed to get it. “I have already signed a purchase agreement,” Haščáková wrote to Deník. “The property is for sale and due to the fact that the new owner wants to build another family house, we have applied for a demolition order,” she wrote. She didn’t want to tell who she was selling the house to.
Haščáková actually received approval for the demolition, she informed Prague City Hall on her notice board on Tuesday, July 13. “The decision to demolish Viktor A. Beneš’s villa was issued by the Building Authority, which is entrusted with the performance of state administration pursuant to Act No. 183/2006 Coll. on spatial planning and building regulations. The decision on the demolition of the said building was issued with the knowledge of the opinions of the authorities concerned, including the Department of Monument Care of the City of Prague, “said Prague Speaker Denis Kubajura when asked by Blesk.
“In connection with this recent decision to demolish the villa of Viktor A. Beneš, the municipality of Prague 5 was not included in the circle of participants in the proceedings., and thus acquaintance with the documents of the proceedings. The issuance of the decision was preceded by a request from the building owners. Only the party to the proceedings can appeal against the decision of the building authority, ie in this case also the Capital City of Prague, which was included among the participants in the demolition proceedings as the owner of the neighboring lands, “added the spokesman, who also told Blesk, that an extraordinary meeting of the Prague 5 City Council will take place on Wednesday, July 22, whose members will deal with further progress related to the future of the above-mentioned villa in Hřebenky.
It is not a monument, demolition cannot be prevented
The problem is that the villa is not located in the monument zone, but just behind it. “As a result, a significant part of the residential area of Hřebenka is not under monument protection. Although it is in the protection zone of the Prague Monument Reserve, it is almost the entire territory of Prague this protection does not address the protection of the villa against its demolition. The authorities of monument protection cannot do anything with the removal of buildings, “said the Deputy Mayor of Prague 5 and the representative of the capital Lubomír Brož (YES) in their status on the social network Facebook.
Andrea Holasová from the National Monuments Institute also confirms the words of the deputy mayor. “The case of Villa Benešovka is one of those we don’t like to see, but we can’t really do anything about it. It is about respecting the owner’s property rights and the current legislative framework in which we can operate. The proposal for demolition came to our table in mid-April, and on May 6 we issued a written statement pursuant to Act No. 20/1987 Coll., On State Monument Care, which does not provide a statement other than the demolition acceptedt, “Holasová explained for Blesk.
As already mentioned by Deputy Mayor Brož, the villa is located only on the territory of the Prague Monument Reserve and is not a solitary protected cultural monument. “It is not a protected cultural monument because no one has ever proposed it as a cultural monument, ”Holas explains. “Our conservationist, who is under the responsibility of Smíchov, and his collaborating colleagues could only recommend the owners to refrain from demolition,” she added.
Petr Zeman (Prague Sobě), Chairman of the Municipal Committee for Territorial Development, Spatial Plan and Monument Care, was also shocked by the decision to allow demolition. About two years ago, Valerie Haščáková applied for a change in the zoning plan so that the villa could be used for housing. “I must say I feel cheated. On 12 May 2020, my committee agreed to the initiative to amend the zoning plan 203/2019, which envisages that the functional use will be changed. We did not have information about the demolition of the villa, we just wanted to allow the villa to be used for residential purposes, “he said.
Things started moving …
According to Lightning, already on Monday evening she was to hold a coordination meeting with representatives of the municipality, conservationists and Prague 5, where the next step should have been proposed. Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) said on Tuesday that the fate of the villa will be solved by the coalition. “One of the possibilities is definitely the city’s appeal against the demolition order issued by Prague 5,” he said, adding that the house is architecturally significant. The city council is scheduled to meet on Monday, June 26.
“A petition will also be published on Wednesday, which will be required for the villa to be granted monument protection. Even public pressure could help in this case, “Alena Janďourková from Prague 5 told Blesk to herself
According to the Deputy Mayor of Prague 5, Lukáš Herold (ODS), the capital city will probably invite the capital to file an appeal.
Billions in wealth
Jaroslav Haščák is a Slovak businessman, one of the founders of the Penta Investments group. He was accused of corruption in Slovakia last December and spent 30 days in custody at the turn of the year. Immediately after his arrest, he resigned from the company’s executive positions, and in June he began to withdraw his assets.
He transfers the share in the company, which reaches about 44 percent, to his wife, lawyer Valéria Haščáková. The transaction can take a month. Forbes magazine estimates Haščák’s assets, which mainly form a share in Penta, at 1.2 billion dollars (about 25 billion crowns).
The villa of the builder Viktor Beneš is to go to the ground. The current owner is a Slovak businessman and co-owner of the Penta investment group Jaroslav Haščák
Author: Blesk: MICHAL PROTIVANSKÝ / CZECH NEWS Michal Protivanský / CNC