Vila Rusalka, Cultural monument in Vysoká u Příbramě, Czech Republic.
Vila Rusalka is a protected villa located in the small village of Vysoká u Příbramě in central Bohemia. The building stands out in the rural setting with its distinctive architecture and forms part of the local heritage.
Dvořák bought an abandoned granary and sheepfold at the northwest edge of Vysoká in 1884 for 2,000 gold coins and had it rebuilt as a family house, first occupied from May to September 1885. His brother-in-law Jan Hertan and August Bohdanecký, director of the Schwarzenberg estate at Rakovice, supervised the work. The family returned each year for about five months; the villa was adapted in Art Nouveau style around 1908 and its facade repaired between 2010 and 2016 with money from benefit concerts.
The name Rusalka was given to the house only by Dvořák's descendants, who still own the estate; it does not come from his opera. Dvořák composed the opera Rusalka here, along with the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, the Requiem and the Second Series of Slavonic Dances. The villa is not open to the public, though until 2017 Dvořák's grandson Antonín Dvořák III accompanied most visits.
The villa is privately owned and not open to the public; access has only been granted on exceptional occasions. Until 2017 most visits were guided by the composer's grandson Antonín Dvořák III (1929–2017). Participants in the annual 1 May long-distance walk "Za Dvořákem na Vysokou" were sometimes admitted.
The villa is not open to the public; it has stayed in the composer's descendants, who gave it the name Rusalka. Until 2017 most visits were led by Dvořák's grandson Antonín Dvořák III (1929–2017), and walkers on the 1 May march "Za Dvořákem na Vysokou" were sometimes let in.
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