sinaia is the romanian city with the largest number of buildings classified as historical monuments per inhabitant. not incidentally, the way the city looks today is the result of the work and signature of some of the most important romanian architects: ion mincu, toma socolescu, paul smărăndescu, duiliu marcu or grigore cerchez, to name just a few of them.
the anastasie simu house, or the retezat villa, as it is now known, is designed and built in the german renaissance style of the early twentieth century by czech architect karel liman. he was a good friend of king carol i, for whom he designed the pelișor cast le and the honor lobby of the peleș cast le, all of them having in common elements specific for this artistic style.
chief architect of the royal house of romania between 1894-1929, karel liman was born in the czech republic in 1855, in a family of carpenters. inheriting the passion for woodworking from his father and grandfather, liman follows the courses of the fine arts faculty in prague and then the bauakademie in munich. established in vienna around 1880, liman gains experience through the collaboration with the fellner&hellmer architecture workshop in the capital of habsburgs. he contributed to the projection plans of the albert rothschild palace in vienna, conducted under the guidance of architect gabriel-hippolyte destailleur and of the hunting house of prince christian de hohenlohe-ohringen in javorina, slovakia. recommended by destailleur to andré lecomte du noüy, a french architect also established in romania, liman is employed by the architecture service of the ministry of cults and public instruction at the commission for historical monuments in romania, where he participated at the restoration of churches „saint nicholas” and „the three hierarchs” in iași and the episcopal church in curtea de argeș. in the service of the royal house, besides pelişor cast le and the complex project for the rearrangement of peleş, liman also signs other projects such as the „princess′s nest” (1894), the extension of the cotroceni palace, the house of prince carol in bucharest, king ferdinand’s cottage in lăpuşna, the rearrangement of the bran cast le and several other buildings in sinaia: the economat villa, the guard house, the royal stables or the retezat villa.
after the architect′s death, the house was bought by academician anastasie simu (1854-1935), a p.h.d in political and administrative sciences, a great art lover and passionate collector, the first romanian to build a private museum in bucharest in 1910. in 1927, simu donated to the romanian state over 1.200 works: paintings, graphics, sculptures and decorative arts gathered over the years. a part of the collection is exhibited today at the national art museum of romania, and another at the simu collection at bucharest pinacoteca.
the architecture of the house, typical for the german renaissance, impresses both on the outside and on the inside. the façade is predominantly of stone, dotted with corner bossages and vividly colored ceramic decorations. the interior is exuberant, highlighting the richness of wooden decorations, the coffered painted ceilings, and especially the beautiful stained glass, perfectly preserved to this day. the location in sinaia is an ideal one, being close enough to the city centre so that it can be reached by a few minutes’ walk, but at the same time, isolated enough to offer privacy and detachment for a mountain holiday.
the villa is renovated and functional, currently offering accommodation in 8 rooms, 2 apartments and 1 studio, rated with 8.8/10 on one of the most important online booking platforms.
the future destination remains commercial, a hotel/boarding house or it can become a permanent personal residence or a holiday one with a lot of charm and full of history.
