Villa Pellé, Neo-Renaissance villa in Bubeneč, Prague, Czech Republic
Villa Pellé is a two-storey Neo-Renaissance villa with a raised ground floor and a basement, built in 1889–1890 in Prague-Bubeneč. Its west facade has a projecting bay with a decorated balcony, while the east side opens onto the garden through a portico with two terraces and four pillars, added in 1932 by Matěj Blecha's firm. The building has stucco rather than stone architectural elements.
Builder Rudolf Koukola erected the villa in 1889–1890 on the site of a former pear orchard for Marie Knoblochová, widow of the owner of the Libeň "Anglický" brewery, and her six children. Marie sold it in 1900 but lived there until 1906. In 1919–1920 it housed French general Maurice Pellé, chief of the Czechoslovak General Staff, after whom the villa and street are named.
The villa's name comes from General Maurice Pellé, chief of the French military mission and head of the Czechoslovak General Staff from 1919 to 1921, who lived here in 1919–1920; a memorial plaque was placed on the facade in 1994 and unveiled in 1995 with French embassy representatives. From 2003 to 2014 the building housed the Anderle Gallery, showing Jiří Anderle's paintings, prints and drawings from sixty years of work alongside his collection of African art.
The villa stands between Pelléova and Slavíčkova streets in Bubeneč, with the garden enclosed by its original pillar fence and wrought-iron gate. The former konírna (stable) was parcelled off from the garden in 1969 and given its own house number, 106. The building is a listed cultural monument, so visits depend on the exhibitions and events held there rather than on fixed opening hours.
The villa's stucco decoration is not stone, unlike nearby Lannova vila; the garden fence with wrought-iron neo-Renaissance ornament and the original two-winged gate survive. The former stable, adapted into flats in 1919–1920, lost its heritage protection in 2012 after insensitive alterations.
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