Hidden behind an orthodox church, this house built by Kart Hart is today forgotten and ignored.
The elegant Eclectic building was erected in 1901. Today it displays its Neo-Baroque decorations for an absent audience, a frequent scene in the urban setting of contemporary Timișoara. Despite this, Tina Malajmare’s illustrations manages to capture the beauty and charm that the built heritage of the city still has to offer. Ana Kun also created an illustration of this house as part of Heritage of Timișoara: Elisabetin (2019).
The Neo-Baroque pediments of this house once closed the perspective down Török Street (today’s Ady Endre Street) in a fit and inspired manner, but this effect has been lost since an orthodox church was built in front of the house.
The monogram “KH” representing the initials of the owner and builder of the edifice, Karl (Karoly) Hart, is located in the centre of the building, above the first floor window.
Architecturally speaking, the building makes use of the spatial and decorative solutions of the 19th century. The façade is divided vertically into five regions treated with three different types of decorations – there are two corner areas, a central area, and, between them, two “background” areas. Horizontally, the façade is divided in two, with the ground floor and semi-basement regarded as a pediment for the rest of the construction, and the first floor made to look like a “piano-nobile” (a noble floor, the main space of the building marked as such on the façade as well).
At the ground floor level, the windows located in the corner and central regions of the façade end in a simple arch, while those from the “background” region end in flattened arches. On the first floor, the windows are embellished with elaborate surrounds consisting of pediments, corniches with dentils, and various other ornaments made of mortar.
Furthermore, on the first floor, the central area of the façade is emphasized by a balcony with balusters, alongside attached columns that flank the entrance to the balcony. At the top, this entrance is decorated with a curved broken pediment typical of the Baroque.
Other elements worth mentioning are the triangular bay windows on the first floor of the corner regions, the richly ornated door surround at the entrance of the building (unfortunately, the door has been replaced), and the abundance of decorations on the corniche and roof where even the ventilation windows are treated like tiny towers.
Karl Hart was a famous builder of Timișoara from the late 19th and early 20th century. Among other things, he built the The Palace of Water, according to the plans of the Budapest architect Lipót Baumhorn or the Lőwy Mór Palace in the Fabric district. It is assumed that he also designed this palace located in the current Alexandru Mocioni Square.
