Klemmné Németh Zsuzsa szerk.: Maróti Géza és Zebegény (1875–1941) (Pest Megyei Múzeumok Igazgatósága, 2003)

THE MAROTI-VILLA It was at the beginning of the 1900s that holidaymakers of Budapest began to discover Zebegény because of its beautiful situation, pleasant conditions and relative closeness to Pest. From the first years of the century, Géza Maróti had spent his free time in the village. He loved the place so much that later he bought an estate and in 1912, he started to build his villa. He became one of the regular holidaymakers, who, at that time, played an active role in forming the true colour of the village. There is a notice saying the date of the building, on the stonewall facing the Danube: "BUILT BY GÉZA MARÓTI AND HIS WIFE ANNO DOMINI ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN". On the basis of Dóra Maróti's description written in 1984 and published by János Gerle in 1987, we can imagine the original form and furniture of the house

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. Maróti had collected all his architectural and sculptural ideas scattered all over the world in this villa. One of them is the gilded arches decorated with wheat ears, which he first applied in the pavilion of the international exhibition of applied arts in Milan in 1906. Unfortunately, the pavilion was destroyed by fire, but the favourite motif was repeated in Venice then in Zebegény as well. "The famous duck well of Milan - Zsolnay-eosin - stood in the middle of the garden .... Later the soldiers passing used it for a target, each duck had its head broken - they died."

4 What a pity that only a few fragments of the duck well have remained. Maróti spent most of the time of his last years here. After his death in 1941, his daughter inherited the villa with life-interest for his wife. In 1952 it was socialized, from 1962 it was used as a maternity home, then from 1973 it became the medical after-care division of the hospital of Vác. These changes of function entailed considerable changes of the building. They built up cross-walls, made several smaller rooms, glazed the terrace on the eastern side, and bricked up the exit from the kitchen into the garden. The beautiful studio became a flat for doctors. The villa stood empty for some time then the Self-Government of Vác privatised it. A foreigner bought it and began to rebuild the villa. He commissioned János Bartók to plan the work. The construction proceeded very slowly and was often broken off. Finally, the first owner sold the estate. In 2000, the present day owner, who kept János Bartók as an architect, purchased it, and, after changing the original plans, they began the reconstruction in full activity.' According to János Bartók architect, you can preserve the original spirit of a house if you add your own ideas - in accordance with the owner, of course - because now it is not a scheduled monument but an object surviving with functions. János Bartók added two levels to Maróti's house. He built a new basement and placed the bedrooms in the attic. One of János Bartók's several original and bold new ideas was to build a pool in the garden. The young architect was inspired by the naive volutes decorating the balusters of the stairs leading from the terrace of the hall. The shape of the pool was constructed to the rhythm of these volutes, according to the strict rules of Vitruvius. The after-life of the Maróti-villa is worthy of the design of the original building-owner. Maród villa, nyugati homlokzat, 1975 k. Maróti villa, nyugati homlokzat, 2001 3 Bródy Maróti, Dóra: Apámról, Maróti Gézáról, Magyar építőművészet 1987/4, p49 4 Id. p. 49 1 Bartók, János: Maróti-villa plan documentation, Zebegény, Mayoral Office, Engineering Department, building permit, No. 229/1997