Veszter Gábor: Villas in Budapest. From the compromise of 1867 to the beginning of World War II - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1997)
ment. The ground plan of the villa, in accordance with the Renaissance prototype, was strictly rectangular; its tripartite street front consisted of a wide room in the middle and a somewhat narrower room on each side. The back of the house did not conform to the Renaissance architectural rules; the inner main axis was not maintained beyond the lounge, the dining room opening on the side face of the building protruded well into the section at the back of the lounge, and the remaining space was occupied by the staircase. The outside of the building was pointedly asymmetrical with a bay window on the right fagade surmounted by a richly ornamented gable in Pellerhaus’ manner. The picturesque front strongly contrasting with the severity of the ground plan of the Weninger Villa reveals Petschacher’s lack of architectural experience at that time (he was still at the beginning of his career). The accentuation of the faqade was not supported by the rooms behind. The right-hand side stressed both by window and gable was on both floors accommodating a rather insignificant little room surrounded, on each level, by two larger rooms (lounge and dining room on the ground floor). Nevertheless, the Weninger Villa was one of the most harmonious of And- rássy út, the alternation of plastered surfaces and walls of unbaked brick or natural stone was well balanced, and the originally green roof tiles gave an artistic finish to the picturesque appearance of the whole building. The villa of Technical College professor Kálmán Szily (Andrássy út 106, Alajos Hauszmann, 1876 - demolished) only had six rooms: a lounge, a dining room and a study downstairs, completed by a bedroom, a nursery and a guest room upstairs. The neighbouring villa of Károly Hieronymi, the future Minister for Home Affairs (but still a technical engineer with the National Railways when the villa was built) was similar in size and room arrangement (Andrássy út 108, Petschacher, 1876 - demolished). The pretensions of the upper middle class in Budapest during the 1870s were still very much the same as those of the lower. There were no significant differences in room size, and their dimensions were quite similar both upstairs and downstairs. (Their finish may have presented some difference. However, since the original plans have disappeared and there are no existing photographs or drawings of the interiors, nothing definite can be said on this point). 16
