Václav Šilhavý

In spite of being one of the most active Litomyšl builders of the first third of the 20th century, Václav Šilhavý's life and work have hitherto remained relatively unexplored. Although the architectonic quality of his buildings is purely of regional significance, the number and prestige of commissions awarded to Šilhavý are testament to his superior position among the builders who were active during the given period in Litomyšl.

He settled in Litomyšl in 1902, acquired a building concession on the 20th of September 1907, and immediately started to design a wide range of types of buildings. Some of these buildings were never actually carried out – for example, the project for a synagogue in Litomyšl, which was of eclectic design, yet featured an interesting floor-plan. Those buildings which were eventually built include the small traditionally designed detached houses in today's Sokolovská Street (in the vicinity of the proposed “Husovka” quarter – 07-VP1), several workers' houses, and designs for the construction of the so-called Tietzovo dvorce in Janov near Litomyšl. At the beginning of the 1920s, commissions for the construction of three schools – in Dolní Újezd (V-10), Osík and Horní Újezd-Krásňovec – were added to his “design repertoire”.

After the First World War, there was no decline in the number of significant contracts for Šilhavý. He had already carried out designs for what was probably his most significant project in 1921, that of the Lidový dům (People's Centre) in LŮitomyšl (06-392). This was the first grandiose public building in the town after the creation of Czechoslovakia. During subsequent years, he carried out designs for the small but ostentatious villas on the lucrative building plots of the newly-established Masaryk Quarter (04-610, 04-597), as well as the designs for adaptations to the Evangelical church in the na Lánech quarter (02-42). A continuation of his work on sacral buildings was his designs for modifications to St. Martin's Church in Dolní Újezd.

Šilhavý's designs were more or less carried out in the style of Historicism, above all in Neo-Renaissance or Decorative style. His buildings from the post-war period are of Secession appearance, not however, from an architectural point of view, but due to the high quality of their stucco ornamentation, generally carried out by Sucharda's pupil Ludvík Vocelka.
 

1910
School
Horní Újezd-Krásňoves

1910–1912
Local secondary school
Osík

1925
Detached house for the Agar family
Litomyšl