luxury property for sale Pleșoiu, Romania

Somewhere in Muntenia, on the Doamnei river valley, about halfway between Curtea de Arges and Campulung, in the Domnesti commune, there is a discreet property that, with its exposed brick pillars, brown wooden shutters and large flagstone paving, reminds a little of Tuscan houses. Those that, like this one, grow young trees in oversized pots, have terrace furniture of an essentialized rustic and trellises with red flowers, in our case geraniums. The river stone fence ensures the property has privacy. The house belonged to Dr. Teja Papahagi, an exceptional doctor and outstanding personality of the time, a man with a vast culture, full of initiative and organizational spirit. He gave his heart to the commune he loved and served throughout his life. Teja Papahagi was the son of Pericle Papahagi, born from the Aromanian nobility, but also from the princely lineage of the Bessarabians, being the one who founded, in Domneşti, a modern hospital with city utilities, a cultural society aimed at bringing the princely history back into focus. The street on which the house is located bears his name, and opposite is the hospital where he served his entire career. The house is on one level, having an almost imperceptibly raised foundation and a low roof supported by brick pillars. It is set back from the street and surrounded by ornamental trees and shrubs, contorted, wild, overgrown with ivy and an untamed vegetation that creates an atmosphere of vague solitude and interiorization. The house itself confirms the hypothesis - the libraries and the pieces of art that dominate the rooms determine the intensity of the natral light; there’s need for control because on the shelves there are old books of specialized literature in Aromanian, Romanian and French, plus writings and manuscripts of the owner’s father, the Aromanian linguist, philologist and folklorist Pericle Papahagi, the author of the first thorough studies on the Romanian Megleno group. In fact, the house, built of brick in 1959 to impeccable standards even today, has an office where the globe, carefully chosen decorative ceramics, lighting fixtures, the pipe resting on the leather map, the watercolors on the walls and the collection of rocks are elements that speak of the existence of an intellectual who sometimes slept here, surrounded by his passions. The living room still seems to carry the echo of the last conversations around the jewel-stove, made of tiles spectacularly decorated with lapis lazuli. The bedrooms have a sober air, softened by the carved wood of the furniture pieces such as the mirror or the wardrobe, or by the lively motifs of the fabrics - carpets, curtains, duvets and pillows. The kitchen keeps a wonderful old cooking machine with a hood between the walls paneled in the chocolate wood of the house. From the back terrace of the house one enters a small room full of books, a perfect place where one can retire to read in the summer. In the generous yard behind the house, there are outbuildings built in the same period. The attention to detail is overwhelming and visible right from the entrance - the door is made of wood, with a forged iron model like a broken embroidery, and the door knob is also a small artistic object, everything being perfectly integrated into the concept of the house. Heating is done with terracotta stoves; the property has running water from its own source, sewerage and electricity while street water and gas can be accessed from the street points.

Surrounded by abundant vegetation, the tower lifts its tiled roof to survey the distance. Times are quiet now, but at the end of the 18th century when it was built, Pazvantoglu, the pasa from Vidin known to the residents as Pazvante Chioru, used to raid the area. The Phanariot lordships did not have the ability to ensure the protection of the territories far from the capital, that is why the Oltenian boyars built forts, fortified houses meant to protect their wealth in case of attack. It is interesting to note the uniqueness of this type of construction, which was no longer built after 1821 because the attacks stopped after Tudor Vladimirescu's revolution, therefore their construction no longer made sense. The rarity makes the appearance of such a house on the real estate market an event, an opportunity. The word cula comes from the Turkish, where kule means tower, and names this type of one-story house that can be found here in the south of the country, but also south of the Danube, in Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia from North, Montenegro, Kosovo Region. The house of the Voiculescu family follows the classical architectural line, having compact, solid volumes, well placed on the ground, located in an isolated place, surrounded by countryside and peace, with good visibility over the area. With thick walls, internal stairs between floors, reinforced doors, hiding places, narrow windows and hatches, today the cule are private homes or appreciated and loved tourist units. The Brancoveneanu-inspired loggia is a wonderful place to avoid too hot summers, and the wine cellar has potential for winter shelter in front of a fireplace and mulled wine. Cula became the property of the current family in 1915, having been bought by Ion .V Voiculescu, landlord, son of the teacher Vasile Voiculescu and grandson of the peasant-deputy Ioan Voicu(lescu), who represented Gorj alongside the famous Gheorghe Magheru and Christian Tell (the historical moments were immortalized in Bucharest by the photographer Carol Popp de Szathmary - see photo). Although coming from a not very rich family, Ion V. Voiculescu still had some land that attracted the attention of the rebels during the 1907 peasant rebellion and later allowed himself to buy 250 ha from Dimitrie I. Mongescu. Cula is located on these newly acquired lands. The Mongescu family had close ties with Tudor Vladimirescu and the revolutionary movement led by him, one great-grandfather, Vasile Moanga (Mongescu), being a good friend of Tudor Vladimirescu and the treasurer of his revolutionary 1821 movement. History says that before reading the declaration in Pades, Tudor Vladimirescu and his people spent the night in the cula of Copaceni (the current Voiculescu cula in Cornesti), which at that time supposedly belonged to Barbu Viisoreanu, an influential administrator in the county and deputy of Gorj during the Organic Regulation. More recent history shows that Ion Voiculescu donated the house and the 10.5 ha that surrounded it to his son, Vasile Voiculescu, who later, in 1949, was forcibly removed from the house by communists in the middle of the night; his wealth was expropriated, the former nobleman receiving mandatory residence in a room in Targu Jiu and being forced to work as a porter in the city station, unloading freight wagons. The state neglected the cula; between 1947-1997 it was transformed into an I.A.S., with day laborers staying on the ground floor, chickens raised in the hallways and sheep sheltered in the attic in winter. The descendants of the boyar expropriated by the communists today own the building together with the 10.5 ha of land.

The birth certificate of the monumental place that would definitively enter into the city life of Craiova and the country through the name, utility and brilliance of “Minerva Casino”, was signed more than a century ago, when the architect Toma Dobrescu handed over the plans for the new construction to a society in which entrepreneurs and workers were predominantly Italian. The Moorish-style building, completed in 1902, had a restaurant and hotel at its inauguration, later adding, through clever arrangements, the wine cellar and the summer garden. Later, under the care of extraordinary restorers (Vasilescu, Bazavan, Andronescu, Mândreanu, Istrățoiu, Barbu), the famous Moorish hall and beerhouse became the city’s main attraction, Minerva competing and surpassing all other party venues. The motto of that time - All the fine people gathers at Minerva’s made the regular attendance of the place to be an event for the citizens of Craiova. From the very beginning, Minerva brought together on the concert stage the most appreciated fiddlers of the times, such as Cristache Ciolacu or the Buică troupe, Dinicii, Tandinii, the instrumentalists from the Piculeata and Julea family. It must be remembered that artists that created a name for themselves in the country's artistic life made their debut on the Minerva stage. This is where Madelaine and Manu Nedeianu, Iodănescu-Bruno, Ion Vasilescu, Mia Braia, Ioana Radu, Dorina Drăghici, Petre Alexandru and many, many others started. When Giani Spinelli sang, the tables also occupied the entrance hall, many waiting outside, because there was no more room in the hall. It should also be remembered that Minerva was a real citadel of culture, here the artists spending their free time, over a drink, discussing art issues and making plans, giving birth to ideas. Here could be seen Amza Pellea, Gheorghe Cozorici, Constantin Rauțchi, Silvia Popovici, Sanda Toma, Ioana Bulca, Andreea Năstăsescu, Rodica Tapalagă, Ioana Măgură, Vasile Constantinescu, Vasile Nițulescu, Remus Comăneanu, Geo Barton, George Marutza or Costel Rădulescu, Mircea Bohoreanu, Benedict Gănescu, George Apostu, Victor Roman, Ilie Purcaru, Paul Anghel, Ion Caraion, Haralambie Grămescu, Mihai Ungheanu, Adrian Petringereanu, Horia Pătrașcu or Petre Dragu. Ion Voicu or Constantin Piliuță whenever they came to Craiova, Minerva was their host. Minerva hosted important people of the world: General Charles De Gaule, Ciu-En-Lai, Emperor Pahlavi of Iran, President Gomulka of Poland and so many others. The Minerva Garden hosted the first boxing galas in which many champions of the country competed: Anton Osca, Marin Gaspar or Gheorghe Lungu. Minerva remains an exceptional achievement in Craiova's urban planning, impressing in size and architectural exuberance. A monumental construction made in Moorish style, with a rich exterior decoration, with an entrance that stands out for its monumentality. The Maur salon has a huge skylight, with Viennese mirrors on the side that highlight the splendor and grandeur designed by the architect. Today Minerva is in a project state and is patiently and nostalgically waiting for the time to shine again. Consolidated and partially renovated, the building needs a renovation project in order to be used again as a hotel with restaurant, beerhouse and summer garden facilities and to become again the main attraction of a city that has been missing for too long.

This interwar building, design in Neo-Romanian style, is located in Sibiu, in the immediate vicinity of the 15th century medieval fortified enclosure. The ensemble is classified in the List of Historical Monuments in Romania by order no. 2030/2014 with code SB-II-a-B-21084, and includes: the main residence (SB-II-m-B-21084.01), the first annex (SB-II-m-B-21084.02) and the second annex (SB-II-m-B-21084.03). According to cartographic sources, around 1875 there was another building on the place of the current one. In 1909, the plot was owned by Henrik Baumann, in 1929 the ownership right was registered for Luiza and Friedrich Baumann. The inscription on the portico’s floor and on the façade indicates its year of construction as 1929, the project being signed by architect Alfred Cernea, as the concrete slab on the façade indicates. Most likely, the project was commissioned by Dr. Liviu Turcu. The present building is emblematic for its Neo-Romanian style. The characteristic features are: massive volumetry, highlighting the central body, loggia with short and thick columns, carved wooden structures inspired by the vernacular architecture, trilobed arches, openings with semi-circular closure and rich decorations with Oriental motifs. The central side of the façade is taller than the other parts, which is also highlighted at the roof. The central area of the ground floor contains a window with semi-circular closure, framed by two embedded Corinthian columns. The floor of the central part is the richest ornamented part of the façade, elevated by the balcony, supported on four massive consoles, decorated with arabesque panels. The loggia opens through three tall trilobate arcades. The façade surfaces around the arches are decorated in an exuberant style with spindles, flowers and arabesques. The main façade of the building offers a panoramic view of the entire garden, at the center of which is an ornamental pool. The access to the yard is made through an alley flanked by tall trees. Designed as an urban villa-style residence with a park around the central building, it initially hosted the Dr. Bolintineanu Sanatorium, and in November 1936 it became Dr. Antal's For Births and Female Diseases Clinic. The building was nationalized in 1948 with this function, soon becoming the headquarters of Sibiu General Sanitary Inspectorate, then a kindergarten, a function preserved until the 1990s. In 2000 the villa and the parcel were returned to the heir family. Today, the imposing building keeps almost intact its original design, projected by architect Cernea, with the valuable decorative elements of the façades. The two annexes were also preserved, realized in a unitary architectural design, the fence near the street along with the main gate, the alley lined by trees, the rampant, the staircase and the basin in front of the main building. Inside, valuable items have been preserved, such as decorative paintings of the ceiling and the original carpentry. Other main attractions add up to the exquisite architectural details, such as: the generous yard of over 5000 sqm and the proximity to The Big Square in Sibiu, located at only 200 m. An outstanding witness of the only national architecture program in Romania, located in a central area of Sibiu, this splendid interwar villa is silently and hopefully waiting for its new owner.