Casa Vintilă Brătianu

A stunning neoromanian villa designed by Petre Antonescu (1909–1912) for Vintilă Brătianu. Featuring ornate wood craftsmanship, stained glass, brass chandeliers, original fireplaces, and a grand central staircase with adjacent service wings. Historically significant: in 1916, the secret agreement for Romania’s entry into WWI was signed in its library. After various institutional uses, it was carefully restored in 2012–2014 for cultural and event purposes.

In the center of the capital, in the immediate vicinity of Ioanid Park, on Aurel Vlaicu Street, there is a jewel of early-century architecture, designed by the famous architect Petre Antonescu to serve as a home for one of I. C. Brătianu’s sons. Nationalized during the communist years, later transformed into the headquarters of the US Embassy, on which occasion it underwent numerous interventions mainly due to the security regulations of the new function, the house was recovered after the Revolution and restored with great care for details, between 2012 and 2014.

During 1909-1910, during which Vintilă Brătianu was the mayor of the capital, the technical service of the city hall conceived and built the Lotizarea and Ioanid Park. After the end of his term as mayor, between 1911-1912, V. Brătianu will buy the last plot of land in this subdivision, with an area of 2,320 square meters, and on February 28, 1912, he will request the building permit for the construction of a housing block with outbuildings, according to the plans of the Brătianu family architect, Petre Antonescu. Author of the Ionel I.C. Brătianu house in Biserica Amzei street no. 5-7, today the Brătianu Foundation, of the Dinu I.C. Brătianu house in Calea Dorobanţilor no. 16 and the renovation and expansion of the family mansion in Florica, Ştefăneşti, between 1905 and 1912, P. Antonescu became the Brătiani’s favorite, probably due to “the shared passion for promoting national tradition. The fact that the family members opted for the neo-Romanian style – in the precious and formalized, protocol version of Petre Antonescu – for most of their constructions, fully corresponds to their political vision.” (1)

One of the most important moments in the history of the house was certainly August 4, when in Vintilă Brătianu’s office the moment of Romania’s entry into World War I was secretly established and the Convention between our country and the four great powers: France, England, Italy and Russia was signed. (2)

Another, this time with significant effects on the building, was the year 1950, when the villa was nationalized, so that in the 1970s it was rented by the Romanian state to the American Embassy. Recovered and sold by the heirs after the Revolution, in 2012, when the 100th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone was celebrated, the construction site for the restoration of the building was opened.

Built in the neo-Romanian style, the villa is inspired by the architecture of the Oltenia cules, whose signs are visible through the volumetry, the high roof and the loggia on the first floor, located immediately under the cornice, with short columns and a reduced height in relation to the full wall. The interior preserves the typology of eclectic aristocratic homes, in which the central hall, dominated by an imposing staircase, is surrounded on the ground floor by the representation spaces, the living room, the dining room, the office and the library, and on the first floor by the bedrooms and bathrooms. In the extension of the main body of the house is the service area, with kitchen, office, storage spaces, etc.

Although it did not enjoy the best maintenance, and some details were altered over time, a large part of the original substance could be recovered, the restoration project aiming at restoring the value of the interior spaces and facades at every step. The work on the facades had as a priority the removal of multiple layers of washable paint from the base made of imitation stone and Ruşchiţa stone, from the window frames and sills, as well as from the twisted belt that decorates the north facade. On this occasion, it was discovered that the two columns at the entrance, with composite capitals, were carved entirely from massive blocks of natural stone. The roof, which still retained the glazed scale tile covering in shades of brown and green, typical of Petre Antonescu’s houses, was revised, with the original tile being re-installed on the main body.

As for the interiors, several carved wooden doors, some with decorative glass mesh, some of the stained oak paneling, the wooden coffered ceiling in the main hall, the one with precious veneer in the library, the one with stucco moldings in the living room and the cylindrical vault in the dining room are just some of the elements with which the initial image could be recomposed. To all this we can add the marble mosaic with folk motifs in the vestibule, the oak parquet with walnut inlays in the living room and the black and white stoneware floor that was discovered under the carpeting and linoleum in the secondary body. And perhaps the most pleasant surprise was the preservation of the original furniture in the living room along with Vintilă Brătianu’s library.

The restoration work carried out on the interior included a whole series of operations: the chromatic reintegra- tion and restoration of several decorative elements in the living room, the repair and restoration of wooden details and furniture. the floor, scraping the parquet and cleaning and waxing the stone or tile floors. Moreover, where important details were lost, an attempt was made to restore them according to original models. This primarily concerns the restoration of several interior and exterior doors, some areas of paneling in the hall and library, some radiator covers and some pieces of furniture in the library according to found models. The result is a coherent and harmonious interior, in which the atmosphere created a century ago by Petre Antonescu has regained its rights.