Gábor Eszter: Andrássy Avenue – Our Budapest (Budapest, 2002)
And yet it was not its proportions which gave the building its status. The Sugárút facade was reminiscent of the Roman palazzos of the Cinquecento peri od (i.e. the 16th century). The first-floor windows were framed in very richly ornamented aedicules. A cast-bronze figure of individual design was placed on a triangular gable above every other window, a rarity even at the time. Sculpted by Antal Szécsi, the figures were cast in the Schlick Factory. The entrance hall and the staircase were decorated with frescos by Károly Lotz featuring figures related to the occupation of the proprietor. Having started his career as a felt retailer, owner András Saxlehner (1815—89), owed his fame and fortune to selling the mineral water named after János Hunyadi. As the story goes, a Buda farmer turning up in his shop in 1863 complained of the undrinkable, bitter water to be had from the wells on his land. Saxlehner asked the man for a sample which, on being tested at Saxlehner’s request, turned out to contain an unusually high level of salts. Encouraged by this, Saxlehner bought the property for a thousand forints (a sum allegedly five times higher than the customary price). As the water proved to be of medicinal value, Saxlehner had a bottling plant built from where he shipped János Hunyadi water to the entire territory of the Dual Monarchy and beyond as far away as Germany, France and England. He ■ Ceiling piece by Károly Lotz in the Saxlehner Manóion (No. 3 Andráóóy út) <3