The Schiller Villa by Jozsef Vago: An Interior Extraordinaire

The Schiller Villa was built in 1910-1912 by the renowned Hungarian architect Jozsef Vago for Miksa Schiffer, a railway engineer, entrepreneur, and art patron.  Vago conceived the villa as a gesamtkunstwerk, or a "total work of art."  He designed the exterior (which is greatly changed from its original appearance) and the interior (which has been restored based on contemporary photographs).  The interior is meant to highlight the best art in Hungary:  major artists working in a Hungarian tradition, including Kernstock Karoly (who designed the stained glass windows), the painter Rippl-Ronai, and Miklos Ligeti who contributed a sculpture.  All the design details of the house were Vago's and were based on traditions in Hungarian folk art.

Stained glass windows predominate in the villa:

Tiles by Zsolnay.

Sculpture by Miklos Ligeti

And myriad architectural details, all created by Vago.

This house survived by a series of accidents.  It is currently the Museum of Tax and  Excise.  I think most people come to view the building though.  It is one of the very few extant Art Nouveau interiors not only in Hungary but Europe as a whole.  It is not well  known--doesn't appear in most of the tourist guides.  So it is a true hidden treasure. 

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