Vila Löw-Beer, villa in Půlpecen, Czech Republic
Vila Löw-Beer is a three-story villa of rectangular plan with a mansard roof, built in 1912–1913 by Brno builder Johann (Hans) Weisz for Arnold Löw-Beer, owner of textile factories in nearby Brněnec. It stands alone north of Půlpecen on a terrace cut into a steep slope above the road from Brněnec, with a semicircular portico at the basement-level entrance carrying a matching bay of the winter garden, a second bay and open loggia on the left, and a stair bay on the side. The exterior mixes late historicism and modernism, while the interior is Art Nouveau.
Arnold Löw-Beer, owner of textile factories in nearby Brněnec, had the villa built in 1912–1913 as a summer residence; the Brno builder Johann Weisz realised it. After Arnold's death in 1922 his son Felix inherited it, and Felix's brothers August and Walter later shared ownership. The Nazis seized it in 1939, and in 1945 it was nationalised on the grounds of the owners' German nationality.
The villa's name recalls the Löw-Beer family, Jewish textile entrepreneurs who owned factories in nearby Brněnec. Arnold Löw-Beer used the house as a summer residence and base for visits to the factory; after 1945 it was nationalised and since the 1950s has served as an apartment building.
The villa is a seven-unit apartment building owned by the municipality of Chrastavec and is not open to visitors; it stands alone north of Půlpecen above the road from Brněnec, partly on an artificial terrace in a steep slope. The two-arm stone staircase from the road was removed in the 1970s during construction of the II. březovský water supply and replaced by a concrete retaining wall; a side outdoor staircase was added along the building during the 2010–2012 facade restoration.
The villa's modern fitting was an electric dining lift, mentioned in the building plans alongside the technical basement. It served meals between the floors rather than carrying people, a detail visitors often mistake for a passenger elevator.
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