Veszter Gábor: Villas in Budapest. From the compromise of 1867 to the beginning of World War II - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1997)

Germany. This influence can be perceived in most residences built in the district, even if they are all pervaded by a local character instilled by the Hungarian folkloric motifs employed in the ornamental elements of the buildings.

The villa of ministerial counsellor Béla Sipeki Balás, built in the neighbourhood of Városliget (Hermina út 47, Ödön Lechner, 1904-05) is related to the villas designed by Arkay in many respects, even if the formal elements of Hungarian folkloric inspiration were much more restrained in number and importance. Folk motifs were used by Lechner in the ornamentation of the fagade, but they were superseded by romanticising detail in the interior. The villa is two-storey and built around a split-level hall. Its particularity resides in its conservatory being placed not at the back or by one of the sides, but on the street fagade, thus becoming a determining element of the building.

The memory of Dr. Elek Nagy’s one-storey villa is only recalled by the foundation walls and the left-side window.

XII., Székács utca 12

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