Architecture is one of those art forms that has the power to transform mundane – sometimes even the most dilapidated – structures into delicious masterpieces. This Wes Anderson-themed Czech guesthouse is a masterclass of the fact. Once an almost collapsing, fungus-infested wreck, Oblouková 171 in Žatec, Czech, is a building that got a Wes Anderson makeover when two architects inherited the crumbling townhouse. Eight years of work, specialist craftsmen, and a wonder-eyed dream transformed a wreck into every design lover’s fantasy.
Drawing from the formalism of Wes Anderson’s style, Jan and Barbora Hora of Prague-based architecture studio Ora worked their magic on the neglected townhouse, which was once home to a family for four decades before falling into disrepair and neglect. The restoration feels like a breath of fresh air and emerges as one of the most compelling projects in recent times, thanks to its unique personality.
The tale of the townhouse begins in the 1920s when the current owners’ great-great-grandparents settled in the house. Several generations lived in the house until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, leaving it disused. Over the years, the townhouse inched toward dereliction. By the time it was inherited by the current owners, the structure was barely standing: the roof leaked, the ceilings caved in, portions of the roof truss were missing, and there was dry rot throughout the dwelling.
Jan and Barbora Hora, who happened to inherit this slice of history, saw the potential in the almost wrecked structure instead of writing it off or destroying it to build something from scratch. After eight years of gruelling renovation, the structure was restored into something that looks straight out of a Wes Anderson movie.
The duo used steel tie rods to brace the entire building, rebuilt a collapsed vault, and replaced the waterlogged ceiling with a concrete slab to get rid of the destructive fungus growing there. The three-tiered hop-drying attic took the most work, a structure typical of the region and its hop-growing heritage, with specialist craftsmanship for restoration.
The plan was simple: to salvage and reuse. The owners had collected reclaimed materials, including old floor tiles, handmade bricks, and antique beams, over the years, finding a place and purpose in Oblouková 171. The hand-hewn beams sourced from a demolished home 400 kilometers away replaced the rotten ceiling joists, while Šatov tiles that sat idly in a barn for a century paved the courtyard.
The outcome seems a patchwork of history collected from far and wide, stitched together, carrying every bit of quirk and antiquity, to create something of a Frankenstein house, as Wallpaper calls it. The reclaimed and salvaged materials mark in a distinct light, tastefully pairing with the new elements, birthing a world of the old and the new.
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It emerges as a fusion of materials, fabrics, colors, and styles, while maintaining a newly gained Wes Anderson-coded trait. Among the new elements, custom ash-wood doors bear marks of traditional panelled designs, and windows mirror their predecessors’ profiles.
The curb façade of the townhouse was restored using historical photographs to establish its lost character. The architects wanted to reinterpret the original structure instead of a reproduction. They restored the frame of the structure, simplifying its embellishments.
Now, the restored townhouse serves as guest apartments, a family holiday retreat, and a taproom serving craft beer from a local brewery. Oblouková 171, now back to the glory it lost over the past four decades, seems to raise a toast to the legacy it bears, while embarking on a new journey in its pretty pastel equilibrium that looks something like a Wes Anderson creation. It is a remarkable feat of two resilient souls who saw the beauty in a structure that had almost fallen into ruin, creating a work of art.
Via: Archello
