A listed villa has been rescued from its ruins - a sign now advertises the outstanding quality of the renovation

With years of persistent work and outstanding quality, they renovated the French Renaissance and Neo-Baroque exterior, and the Art Nouveau and Moorish interior of the Villa Városligeti, which became famous as the site of the Tisza murder.

The large building, with a usable floor space of approximately 2,000 square metres, whose reconstruction we also followed throughout – has an exterior façade decorated with a variety of stone, brick and plaster elements.,

In its interior we can find such detailed decorative sculptural and applied arts curiosities as the carved wooden stair rails with dragon heads, imposing chandeliers, coffered ceilings, balustrades or the much talked about Mór Hall on the ground floor.

The historic villa in Városliget was renovated according to the plans of Mányi István Építész Stúdió, with the construction of LAKI Épületszobrász Zrt. and Possibuild Építőipari és Szolgáltató Kft. according to the plans of Mányi István Építész Stúdió, with the implementation and technical supervision of NOX Beruházó és Fővállalkozó Zrt. was carried out and technically inspected.

The land on which the present villa stands was acquired by the Roheim family in 1899. Following the division of property with the previous owners, the villa's builder, Samuel Roheim (a wealthy timber merchant) and his wife Leontina Schultz commissioned the architect Manó Pollák to draw up the plans, which were signed by the master in 1899.

The architect Manó Pollák (Szucsány 1854 - Budapest 1937) studied in Stuttgart and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He designed in a historicist-art nouveau style, his oeuvre is almost completely unexplored. His main works are the neo-Baroque building of the Ferenc Baths in Puszta (1908), the headquarters of the Commercial Travellers Association (Bp., Jókai u. 4.), his own house (Bp., Margit u. 11.) and the Roheim villa.

The villa was built by Samuel Roheim for his family, but due to his deteriorating financial circumstances he was forced to rent out parts of it. Thus, in 1917, the former Prime Minister, Count István Tisza, became his tenant, and on 31 October 1918, his fourth and now fatal assassination attempt was made in the villa's downstairs study. In the first decade after the war, the building was used by the State Protection Authority (ÁVH), and from 1956 it was used as a residential home for young men with reduced mobility, the State Institute for the Disabled. The disabled moved out of the Roheim Villa in 2001 and it has been vacant since then. Under Act CXLI of 2016 on the Hungarian Corvin Chain Board, the building, which had been unoccupied and dilapidated for several years, became the property of the Hungarian Corvin Chain Board. In order to avoid further deterioration, in the summer of 2019, a tarpaulin canopy was erected on a steel scaffolding frame to preserve the monumental values, which had deteriorated considerably by then. Permission plans for the complete renovation of the building became effective in May 2020 and the construction contract was signed on 20 January 2021.

The now-renovated villa reopened its doors as the headquarters of the Hungarian Corvin Chain. During the reconstruction, in addition to the office, meeting and other service rooms necessary for the work of the Board, spaces suitable for holding events, a library and music room, a representative reception hall, a cooking and warming kitchen suitable for preparing receptions, and five high-quality apartments were also created.

Outstanding quality

As the unveiled plaque indicates, the villa was restored to a technical and qualitative standard that not only Construction Industry Quality Award, but also earned Balázs Greskovics, certified architect, head of the Laki Épületszobrász Zrt. division, project manager and technical manager of the Roheim villa project, was also awarded the Sándy Gyula Award in 2023.

The Construction Award of Excellence, as an award, is announced by a bronze plaque in the building's ornate reception hall, bearing the names of the authors. At its ceremonial unveiling on 18 April 2024, Prof. Dr. E. Szilveszter Vizi, President of the Hungarian Corvin Chain Board, highlighted in his speech:

"The builders have done a miracle here, rebuilding a palace that was doomed to ruin, almost on the verge of demolition. This building proves that 'sine praeteritis futura nulla', without the past there is no future, because the example of this building shows that Hungarians have the strength to start and start again. Those who build, build for the future, build the future even by resurrecting the past."

"Like Afrodite rising from the foam, the building has risen from the ruins thanks to the efforts of the contractors" - stressed Professor István Klinghammer, head of the Hungarian Corvin Chain Office and former Secretary General of the Hungarian Corvin Chain Board, adding that "the building stands today as a strong reality, which required the work of many people."

Tolnai Tibor spoke on behalf of the Jury at the inauguration ceremony. In his speech, the 19-member Jury, delegated by the founders, is responsible for deciding who will receive the Construction Industry Excellence Award. An important benchmark is that the construction must be carried out by a contractor with excellent architectural designs and good references. This is the case with Mányi Studio and LAKI, who at the same time have chosen young people, such as Possibulid Ltd.

"A facility can be great if all participants who have a role in its success are able to contribute to the common cause with a constructive and critical eye. That has been maximised here," said Lajos Béres, Deputy CEO of LAKI Épületszobrász Zrt., adding. While our work may not be visible to the general public, sometimes, for an hour or two, we can stop to look back solemnly at the great work behind us. It may also shed some light on our work, for which I am particularly grateful."

On the bronze plaque symbolizing the Construction Excellence Award, the major subcontractors involved in the project were also identified, namely Kft., Possigreen Kft. and Kft., but as was also mentioned in the speeches, all the subcontractors involved deserve thanks, as the reconstruction of the villa building would not have been possible without their work.