luxury houses for sale Timiș County, Romania

As you cross the bridge from the old Citadel, on the border between the old Iosefin and Elisabetin neighborhoods, i.e. on the current 16 Decembrie Boulevard, once called Petrovaradin, the gaze rises in amazement to encompass the Franz Marschall palace – a spectacular stone canvas on which master hands carved rich decorations. Being part of the Citadel's esplanade, this area could only be developed after 1892, when the town planning plans accepted the expansion of the city and the construction of buildings. It is the time when the architect Martin Gemeinhardt designs beautiful buildings in the styles of the era - Secession and Art Nouveau. Participant in the First World War, politically active and entrepreneur (co-owner of a brick factory), therefore perfectly integrated in the realities of life, Martin Gemeinhardt obtained certification as a construction engineer in 1902 and used his skills to compensate for the everyday gray endowing of the city with fabulously decorated buildings. Generous with vegetal, zoomorphic and figurative motifs, h designed the palaces of Jakab Csendes, Ferencz Marshall, Johan Harlauer (House with Peacocks and Owls), Romulus Nicolin House, Timișoara Savings House Palace, Károly (Karl) Weisz Palace (former Royal Hotel) and Salamon Schnürer and Adolf Hanecker Palace. Their façades, elaborate, elegant and with life pulsating in them, captured the attention of his fellow citizens, who welcomed them with joy and with inaugurations mentioned by the newspapers of the time. As the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th bring the finalization of the boulevard 16 Decembrie, the area has a unity and a symmetry that adds to the monumentality of the buildings. The façades are richly decorated, the roofs are high and at the corners the architects went for towers or aedicula. Thus, the Franz Marschall palace is framed in continuous street fronts formed by buildings of the same style and height regime, arranged on the ground floor and two floors; as a rule, the owner lived in the front part, the rest of the apartments being rented out to those who wished.

When the passion for restoring and for harnessing the value of what is authentic and antique meets the the more than a century old legacy left over the years by the former Swabians, then everything can turn into an absolutely unique experience. The Swabian House or Schwabenhaus is a place you should not miss if you arrive in the west of the country. Either because you want to make a stop for resting your mind but also to indulge your soul, or because you want to taste some of the dishes for which the people of Timisoara come here regularly, or even just to see what an old Swabian building looks like. Moreover, when it comes to a house restored with great care and skill and happily enriched with collections of art and handcraft objects, which today turn it into a small museum with so many interesting things to see. The property is located in Șandra, in the middle of the Banat Plain, 34 km from Timișoara, 32 km from the border with Serbia and 36 km from the border with Hungary. Șandra has been first time documented in 1833 under the name of Alexandria after the bishop of Zagreb who owned large areas of land here. The bishop is the one who signed the agreement by which a number of 140 families, no less than 700 German settlers remained here and practically established the settlement that would bear his name. Today, Schwabenhaus practically refers to a land with an area of 4,316 square meters with completely renovated old buildings which received a new life becoming a tourist destination. New amenities, which offer all the comfort and facilities you can think of are waiting here. Thus, immediately upon entering the courtyard we find the main building, which offers 9 rooms and a large space in the attic where conferences or events can be organized. Also, here, in the salon that marks the main entrance, there is probably one of the largest collections of cuckoo clocks in Europe, with extremely valuable samples. Next to it, we find a restaurant on two levels, arranged in accordance with the spirit of the place, maintaining its charm, and enriched with valuable and charming collections of musical objects and handicrafts products. The beautifully arranged courtyard leads us to the third building, which has a mixed function. Most part of the ground floor comprises a bar that immediately invites you to enjoy a pint of house beer, either in the classic Bavarian interior or on the romantic terrace overlooking the inner courtyard. Apart from this, in the same building, there are 5 bedrooms, and an administrative area, with an office, a laundry room and a technical room. The last building is newly built, but it integrates perfectly into the landscape, being designed after the plans of the former Swabian huts. The building has a wine cellar on the ground floor and an open terrace upstairs with a beautiful view of the entire complex. The courtyard is landscaped with stone, plants and shrubs, and you can notice the great attention and the care to the smallest details and the passion for perfection. The ultimate place to relax will of course be the swimming pool, located in the sunny area of the courtyard and with easy access to the bar, but also to the accommodation areas. “Schwabenhaus” means a place where nothing has been left to chance, where the so-called German rigor can be seen in every detail of the property, starting from the quality of the renovation to the particulars of the decoration. It is a place where history seeks a new beginning.