The Muller Villa

Adolf Loos was an architect with important influence at the turn of the twentieth century. He insisted on using only the highest quality materials, and scorned all ornamentation on the exteriors of his buildings. His most significant works are in Vienna, Prague, Pilsen, and Paris.

Late in his career, in 1928-1930, he designed a home for the contractor-builder, Franrisek Muller, his wife, and daughter, the Muller Villa. The house construction was totally controlled by Loos. And once the family moved in, if he hadn't taken so ill, he would have controlled every aspect of the interior usage of the home. Although austere on the outside, merely a concrete box, once inside the richness of the materials shows through, even now almost eighty years later. The original heating system still works, the wall paper is original, all of the wood paneling is, as are the tiles. Loos insisted on placing the house on its site despite the fact that Muller preferred another location. However, it has some of the best views of Prague.

Because Muller was an amateur photographer, the extensive restoration was done according to a vast collection of photographs that included the artwork (which was sold during the Community years by the widow to support herself and her daughter), furniture, and culinery accessories.

The Muller Villa was confiscated after the Communist takeover in 1948, where the family continued to live. After the death of her parents, the daughter moved to Canada, and after the Velvet Revolution which began in 1989, the home was sold to the City of Prague as a museum.

At the time it was built, Prague would not allow homes beyond a second story. Loos bent the rules by constructing the house around a spiral so that each room, and there are twelve of them, are arranged a few steps above the last around a central stairway and a rear one. The public living room has a ladies' sitting room and the dining room overlooking it, all of which are quite austere in decoration, but not in the marble and wood panels that become the atmosphere of the rooms. There are few light fixtures, as Loos built with windows to provide natural light for as long as possible during the day. We were not allowed to take photographs, but here is a great site to see the interiors.

Loos also disapproved of servants living in the house. So he created the rooms without servants' quarters and only a single full bathroom. There is a toilet in the kitchen and a sink in the nursery. That was it! The living quarters for the family are far less ornate. The dressing rooms for Mr. and Mrs. Muller were designed to their exact measurements for their shoes, for sitting at their dressing tables.

We had a private tour of the house with a lovely and very knowledgeable young woman. It's finally warmer today, a bit of sun, too. As we looked out from the terrace of the Muller Villa, we saw where Prague's poor live: there are two enormous locations of Society style apartment complexes, looking remarkably like American urban housing projects. They are located quite a distance from Prague's Center, but are located on hills on the outskirts of town.