Vul. Akademika Bohomoltsia, 3 – residential building ID: 54

A three-storied house was built in 1906 under a project designed at Ivan Levynskyi's (Jan Lewiński) bureau for doctor Jan Papee and his wife Maria. The house is one of the six buildings surrounding a green square in the center of the street. It is an example of the early Modernist residential townhouse of the 1900s designed in the Secession (Art Nouveau) style, which was influenced by the architectural school of Otto Wagner. It is an architectural monument of local significance (protection number 3). Today the building is mainly used as a residential one.

Story

The building’s plot was formed in 1904, when Bohomoltsia (then Adama Asnyka) street was laid and the area, where an old villa and gardens had been located (its old address was Pańska street 5 or conscription number 508 4/4), was parcelled for housing development. The latter was owned by Klementyna Witosławska, née Bochdan; it was from her that a plot formed directly on the villa territory was purchased by doctor, professor of medicine Jan Papee and his wife Maria in 1904. A project of a new townhouse was designed at the bureau of Ivan Levynskyi (Jan Lewiński) in the following year. In June of 1905 the project was approved by the Magistrate (DALO 2/1/123: 2). The construction was completed a year later. In June of 1906 additional plans were approved with a slightly modified planning of the house; apart from that, the courtyard level was lowered; the watchman’s room and a laundry were arranged in the basement. At the same time, permission to move into the building was given (DALO 2/1/123: 13). Later, the plot was given new conscription number 890 4/4.

In 1938 the Magistrate continued exchange of letters with the owners on the need to repair the building’s façades, entryways and staircases (DALO 2/1/123: 16-18). The Papees owned the building till the late 1930s.

Today the house is used as a residential one, except the ground floor and a part of the second floor premises where private institutions are located.

Architecture

The house is located at the corner of a green square on Bohomoltsia street. It is a residential townhouse built in the early 20^th century with the use of modern building materials and constructions as well as with connection to electricity, water supply and sewerage. The building is characterized by a more comfortable planning than townhouses built just a decade earlier: all utility rooms like kitchens, bathrooms, and toilets are located inside the apartment and not in the back part of the wing with access through galleries. When planned, the plot’s area, which is quite small (slightly larger than 15x15 m), was used to the fullest extent possible. With this in view, the front staircase is located at an angle; a small courtyard is connected to a neighbouring courtyard belonging to the building № 5; winding service stairs are placed in the courtyard. The building is notable for its decorative solution in the Secession style influenced by the Vienna architectural school of Otto Wagner. Forged elements of intricate shapes, bright majolica tiles, some reinterpreted classical architecture forms were used in the façades and interiors decoration.

The building has three floors and basements; the walls are built of brick and plastered. There are Klein vaults in the basements; intermediate floors and balconies are made of reinforced concrete. The roof has a structure made of wooden rafters and posts and is covered with tin painted in dark red colour (originally it was covered with tiles). Forged elements, majolica tiles of iridescent violet colour and stucco are used in the façades décor.

The building is L-shaped in plan and has a common courtyard with the neighbouring house № 5. The main entrance is located in the south façade. Through the portal one can get to a small entryway with several steps, an elongated dark corridor and a staircase with stairs having wheeling steps. According to the original project, there were two apartments on each floor: a five-room one and a four-room one. Each apartment had a kitchen (with windows facing the courtyard), a bathroom, and a toilet. Back winding stairs were arranged in the courtyard, through which one can get to the gallery and thence to the kitchen.

In the terms of volume and space the building’s accent is a rounded corner highlighted by a balcony and topped by a Secession-style attic. The slight projections on the edges of the both street façades are completed in a similar way. On the ground floor level the façades are decorated only with banded rustication. The upper floors windows have cornices under them and lines of majolica and stylized linear recessed pediments above them. On the third floor level, there are friezes made of the same tile and moulded stylized flowers above the windows.

Balconies are constructed of artificial stone slabs and are supported by forged metal cantilevers in the form of stylized plants. The façades are crowned with overhanging cornices of a simple profile with a line of exaggerated egg-and-dart ornament instead of a classical frieze.

There were not many changes in the building during the 20^th century, except some internal alterations, so its authentic design has largely been preserved. Most windows have been replaced, but a considerable part of the original woodwork has survived. The upper glass panes of these windows have thin transoms and mullions applied to their surface as a decoration.

People

Bronisław Kuczyński – an insurance liquidator, a resident of the house in 1913.
Klementyna Witosławska, née Bochdan – the owner of the old plot and villa.
Ludwik Fiała – a merchant who owned an intermediary firm engaged in buying and selling hops, a resident of the house (1910).
Ludwika Siellawa – a resident of the house (1910).
Maurycy Sprecher – a merchant, a member of the First Galician Company of raw products, a resident of the house (1910, 1913).
Maria Papee – a co-owner of the house.
Roman Papee – a doctor, a resident of the house (1932).
Marceli Szlachetko – a doctor, a resident of the house (1932).
S. Sołomir – the owner of a woodworking business (Informator, 1932).
Solomon Mandel – a gymnasium professor, a resident of the house (1910).
U. I. Myednik – a resident of the house (1946).

Sources