The original Baroque building, now a historically protected structure, is one of the original vineyard houses in Prague that have undergone significant transformations over the centuries. The renovation removed recent structural alterations and adapted the building to serve as a family villa with a functional layout.

The former Špitálka vineyard house has a long history. The first records date back to the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, when the Vltava River valley was lined with numerous vineyards. According to an architectural-historical survey, there were over 120 such vineyards in the Dejvice cadastral area alone in the 16th century, and this estate was one of them. However, by the early 17th century, the vineyards began to decline; the Thirty Years’ War broke out and the climate grew colder, leading to the consolidation of the vineyards and the conversion of the vineyard buildings into farm structures.

The estate served as a farmstead throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and was owned by the Order of the Cross with the Red Star, which sold it at the turn of the century; during the 20th century, the house was gradually expanded. It underwent a radical transformation in the 1990s; the estate was divided, and only a portion of the original historic masonry remained from the original structure. All original elements—such as windows, doors, and roof trusses—were replaced. The goal of the design was to shift away from the atmosphere of the 1990s and strive to restore the farmstead to its former state. The concept is based on the construction of a new wall—altering the relationship between interior and exterior space. The wall thus forms part of a clear boundary that, with its atmosphere, evokes the inner courtyards of former farmsteads. The farmstead’s current historical value lies in its urban integration, which is surprising in the context of the surrounding villas. The house is slightly turned away from both the street and the neighboring villas, illustrating the transformation of the site over the centuries.

The interior transformation of the house is epitomized by the staircase, which winds its way through all the floors. Its sculptural presence dominates the house’s common areas, and its vistas connect the house’s interior spaces. In shaping it, we were inspired by Baroque curves, which also influenced the design of the suspended ceilings in the attic and the wall cladding in the basement movie theater. The second major intervention in the house’s interior was the radical opening created by a wide window facing the garden, which fundamentally transformed the space. An addition opened up to the garden’s interior through a wide panoramic window, and a wall with sliding doors—separating the two worlds—allows for varying degrees of intimacy. The interior features oak wood, fabrics in shades of gray, and white paint, which brings light into the space. At least a few stones of the 16th-century masonry remain visible on the ground floor of the house. The picket fence references the former homestead, as does the vineyard in front of the house.