In the interwar period, the two-storey townhouse, located where the narrow end of Boženy Němcové Street joins Šantova Square, was owned by a significant Litomyšl town dweller, Václav Gráf, administrator of Hášovy Elektrárny (power station) in Lány. The originally Baroque building was in very bad condition, with damp walls, crumbling vaulting, and was generally unfit for living. The owner repeatedly applied for demolition permission so he could build a new house for himself in its place. Despite facing opposition from the tenants, who refused to vacate the building, Václav Gráf eventually succeeded in carrying out his plans. As he himself pointed out in official documentation, his new location enabled him to be permanently available to the fire brigade in the case of fire or when there was a failure of the electricity grid.
Successful local builder, František Vlach, designed the building in 1932. Along with the interior adaptations, which included space for a small ground-floor shop, Vlach designed an unobtrusive facade with reserved modern elements, such as trapezoidal window frame profiles, a parapet with an ornamental balustrade, geometric relief sectioning of the rendering, and the main entrance situated at the rounded corner of the terrazzo ground floor.
Even though the facade reflects the Modernist style of the period, its overall appearance is reminiscent of traditional town buildings. For this reason, the building can be considered one of the most accomplished examples of “heritage architecture” of the interwar period in Litomyšl – in the sense of architecture fitting into its surroundings sensitively, neutrally or, at least, not discordantly. During recent renovations to the front facade, the owners heeded the original material specifications, colouring and window partitioning. The original look of the building therefore, has been preserved, despite various construction modifications carried out in the 1970s when the shop window was replaced with garage doors.
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