Thursday, December 16, 2010

"My" House #2

A while ago I showed you another house that I referred to as 'my' house, though of course it is not. This is my second favorite old one. You can see that it is in a sad state, and represents a wide problem facing many of Belgrade's older buildings. This one has not been declared a cultural monument, though in my opinion it should be. It dates from the second half of the 19th century, and was built as a wedding present to his daughter Julka by Zivojin Blaznavac, a wealthy official, and was the first house in Belgrade to have a swimming pool (undoubtedly long gone.) During WWII, Julka was forced to give up most of the home to house German officials. Later, under communist rule, the building was confiscated and split into several apartments. Despite its appearance, it is still lived in.

17 comments:

Olivier said...

une vieille maison avec tous ces secrets et ces fantômes ;)

Luis Gomez said...

What a great place!

Lowell said...

I agree that it is a grand old place and probably has some potential and somebody should ensure that it doesn't go completely to pieces, but I think a restoration would probably be costly. It looks to be in rather bad repair!

I also noticed that the streets seem quite crowded and parking is at a premium...

Gaelyn said...

A shame to let a fine historic building fall apart. Yet if renovated the current tenants would have no place. I can certainly see why you like it.

Thérèse said...

At least the roof seems to have been "updated!"

Randy said...

That could be so beautiful if it were restored.

Chuck Pefley said...

Ah, the ever heavy hand of governments. What a waste. I'm certain it would be very expensive to restore and maintain, however.

Dadu Jones said...

Funny. I took a picture of this house in 2001. It's hard to cross this street without looking, fascinated, at this house!

Carraol said...

Such a wonderful gift, this capture is so beautiful, the house must be inside a crystal cube, for the pleasure of present and future connoisseurs, art lovers, architecture fans and all people! Here in MC are a lot of pieces like this abandoned houses with the risk of earthquakes and with people living inside.

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

How sad to see a building like this fall into ruins... Wouldn't you love to see it in its former grandeur. It is difficult to promote restoration in times of economic struggles...

knez011 said...

Unfortunately, Belgrade is full of old, charming buildings like this one. The fact that it's lived in is the saddest.

Daryl said...

Here it would be renovated with glass and chrome .. so sad .. it looks like it was once quite lovely.

Maja said...

Can you post the approximate address of this house? I have left Belgrade 20 years ago and would love to remind myself as to whee this may be.
Thanks.

Pat said...

Maja, this house is on the corner of Knjeginje Ljubice street and Gospodar Jovanova Street in Dorcol, an old Belgrade neighborhood that you probably know. YOu can read more avout it at:
belgradeinsight.com/attachment/000001168.pdf (Google Belgrade Insight, The House on the Corner) if this does not work.

Jilly said...

What a beautiful building. I was sure it was derelict until you wrote it's still lived in. I do hope there will be some restoration before it falls down. Fascinating history.

Maja said...

Thanks Bibi!
I have been following your blog for about a year. It always manages to touch me - and for,sometimes, unexpected reasons.
Every single post about your late husband has moved me to tears - one can feel the love and sorrow from your postings.
Thank you for sharing your perspective of Belgrade with us.

Pam Lane said...

Wouldn't you love to be able to wander through it, to imagine what it once was and what it could be again?

SPRING FASHION

 This is a post that would be better in color, but maybe not. These colors were soooo pale.