The widening competences of the existing districts after the birth of Czechoslovakia required the necessary administrative facilities. At first, the respective departments were located in various buildings around the town which, however, were inadequate for such purpose. After consolidation of the Czechoslovak economy, the construction of new administrative buildings commenced. The ambitions of the district towns were evident in the size and representative style of the buildings. Understandably, the choice of architects became a question of prestige. The situation in Litomyšl was no different. There the town council entrusted Antonín Ausobský with the building of the district administrative building. He had carried out the successful design of the grammar school building (04-590), and it was presumed that he would design another commanding building in the quarter which was based around that school.
The plans were ready in 1924, however, building permission was not granted until 1925, with the work itself commencing probably one year later. The Litomyšl town chronicle states that the building was officially handed over on the 21st of January 1928 and included two flats and seventy offices.
A building plot was selected at an elevated position to the left of the grammar school, and linked up to the new construction work being carried out in the street which included the apartment block designed by Bohumil Hypšman (04-591), built in a northerly direction to the right of the school. The administrative building features a complex floor-plan layout and partitioned frontage. The design of the main facade evidently takes its cues from Ausobský's design for modifications to the embankment facade of the Olympic Theatre in Vicenza, albeit in a simpler form.
Compared to the nearby building of the grammar school, the building is inconsistent, even disharmonic in appearance. At closer glance it is impossible not to admire the dexterity involved in merging entirely diverse elements into a singular sameness, resulting in unexpected harmony, albeit with a distinct traditional aura. Monumental forms, conspicuous partitioning and interaction between light and shade are all apt motifs in Ausobský's design.
It could be assumed that Antonín Ausobský's intention was – having the opportunity to design two buildings fulfilling different functions side by side – to achieve a clearly defined contrast between the strict symmetry and traditional concept of the grammar school and the unconventional (acknowledging however, tradition) design of the neighbouring administrative building. Without doubt, it was a successful feat of creating buildings corresponding to, yet respecting, each other. If the earlier building could be perceived as being classical (with due respect to its total functionality), the later one accentuates its functionality above all. In spite of being different, they reveal the spirit of their designer, which is the linking factor. Under close observation, their mutual harmony is immediately evident.
The building is laid out in three tracts, with a central corridor with rooms along both sides, accessible through two staircases of two flights respectively – the main one in the corner section and an additional one roughly in the centre of the floor plan.
Although the building no longer serves its original purpose – after the dissolution of the Litomyšl administrative district in 1960, the building was used as a hostel for apprentices, and at one time a nursery school – it still remains one of the most significant listed buildings in Litomyšl.
