ST1383 P ZAGREB CENTER

ELEGANT APARTMENT IN A HISTORIC BUILDING
This exceptional property, in a prestigious area of the city centre close to the Opera
House, occupies the entire floor of an important building designed by the father of
Croatian architecture, Viktor Kovacic. It retains all its original design and features,
and has been beautifully restored.
DESCRIPTION
The apartment, is located on the first floor of a three-story building. The imposing
entrance hall opens into all the principal rooms, which are four-metres high, spacious
and beautifully proportioned. Generous double doors connect the hall and salon, and
the rooms on either side of it, which have bay windows to the front; these two rooms
are a library-study to the right and the guest bedroom and bathroom to the left.
To the right of the hall is the principal bedroom, which has a glazed loggia
overlooking the garden; next to it is the main bathroom which also overlooks the
garden. A corridor to the left side of the entrance hall leads to a separate cloakroom,
the dining room and the kitchen, which has a balcony overlooking the garden.
Adjacent to the kitchen is a larder-cum-utility room.
The present owner has restored the apartment to the highest of standards,
respecting all its original joinery and other fittings and features, including a
magnificent period-tiled stove in the salon. The original parquet floors were retained
and new Venetian blinds were installed throughout, while modernizing and renewing
the wiring and all electrical fittings, plumbing, central heating and a new boiler. The
bathrooms were renewed and retailed. A new telephone and alarm system was
installed.
An additional and useful feature to the property is a substantial cellar with a separate
entrance from the garden; tiled, it has a lavatory and a shower.
The building is well-maintained and there is residents parking in the area.
ACCOMMODATION
Entrance hall, leading into the salon
Library study
Principal bedroom and bathroom
Guest bedroom and bathroom
Cloakroom
Dining room
Kitchen
Larder and utility room
Basement room
Total  m2
Plus basement
The property is Freehold and without any encumbrances.

HISTORY
Victor Kovacic (1874 - 1924), often called the father of modern Croatian architecture.
was the architect of this and the adjoining building (Masarykova 21 and 23
respectively), which were built in 1907, for the same client. Kovacic was noted for his
ability to marry the best of historical norms to progressive principles and practice. He
was a distinguished pupil, in the 1890's, of Otto Wagner and the Vienna Secession.
In the design of these buildings, Kovacic expressed and applied the principles and
doctrines of that school. Vertical composition of the façade ̶ delineated by the golden
panes ̶ express elegant simplicity which is highlighted by the narrow windows in the
bays. The bow convex windows of the first-floor emphasize the Belle Etage.
Kovacic used new materials in the construction of these buildings, and applied new
structural engineering and fire regulations, a practice that has proved most enduring
to this day.
The house has a north-south orientation. The central staircase of the building allows
the organisation of the internal space, further emphasising the modern approach
linking artistic aims with practicality and convenience. The top floor, the atelier of
Victor Kovacic, was the space that he took in lieu of his fee and where he lived and
worked until the end of his life. His widow donated the space to the City of Zagreb
and after her death it has been maintained under the auspices of the City Museum. It
is open by appointment only once a week.
For the book on the property see the bilingual publication:
Nada Premerl; Stan architekta Viktora Kovacic, Masarykova 21, Zagreb; Muzej
Garda Zagreba 2000. The catalogue includes drawings of the building, photographs
and covers life and work of the architect.