VILA CHROMY
INTRODUCTION
Standing on the hillside above the former Jáchymov railway station is one of the oldest villas in the local villa district. Villa Chromý, today Štěpova No. 756, was built between 1912 and 1914 as a guesthouse for Johann Chromý, the brewmaster of the Jáchymov municipal brewery. The design was prepared by the Jáchymov builder Franz Rehn, whose work significantly influenced the appearance of this part of the town.
The villa was built at a time when Jáchymov was increasingly transforming itself, alongside its traditional mining history, into a spa town. The new villa district on the slopes above the town was one of the visible expressions of this transformation.
DESCRIPTION OF THE HOUSE
Villa Chromý is a detached three-storey building, distinctly adapted to the sloping terrain. Its architecture is based on a varied and articulated building mass complemented by prominent gables, bay windows, balconies and other projecting elements.
The dominant features are the massive gables incorporated into the mansard roof. The gable also contains a characteristic viewing arcade which, together with the bay windows and balconies, creates the building's distinctive silhouette. Specialist sources classify the building as Historicist architecture with Art Nouveau elements.
The architectural design corresponds to the original use of the building. The villa was not intended solely as a private residence, but also as a guesthouse for spa visitors.
BUILDER AND ARCHITECT
The client was Johann Chromý, brewmaster of the Jáchymov municipal brewery. In July 1912, Franz Rehn prepared the building plans for the new guesthouse for him. The building was completed in 1914.
Franz Rehn was one of the most significant builders in Jáchymov during the first half of the 20th century. Villa Chromý is among his early projects in the emerging villa district. In the following years, he designed a number of other villas and guesthouses here.
His work in Jáchymov is described in greater detail in the separate article Franz Rehn and His Legacy.
HISTORY
The origins of the villa
At the beginning of the 20th century, Jáchymov was changing rapidly. Alongside mining, the development of the spa industry and the tourism associated with it were becoming increasingly important. The number of spa guests was growing, creating a need for new accommodation.
It was during this period that a new villa district began to emerge on the slopes above the town.
Villa Chromý is one of its oldest buildings. The design was created in 1912, and the house was built between 1912 and 1914. Its location above the railway station of the time also fitted well into the new urban development that was expanding beyond the historic centre.
The guesthouse
From the outset, the house was associated with accommodation for spa guests. The construction of Villa Chromý therefore illustrates well how the spa industry gradually became an important part of life in the town.
Its builder, however, came from the environment of traditional Jáchymov entrepreneurship. Johann Chromý was the brewmaster of the municipal brewery, yet he invested in a new type of business connected with the influx of spa guests.
The villa thus represents an interesting connection between the old and the emerging Jáchymov – between the municipal brewery and the developing spa industry.
The war and later history
The building was completed in 1914, at the time when the First World War began. The war subsequently interrupted the further development of the local villa district.
It is documented that the house continued to be used for residential purposes in more recent times. The address Štěpova 756 appears in municipal documents, and the property is also recorded in current address databases.
PRESENT DAY
The current condition of Villa Chromý shows that its continued existence cannot be taken for granted.
In 2023, the Karlovy Vary Region provided a grant of CZK 300,000 for project documentation related to the structural stabilisation of the building, an architectural study and the preparation of the necessary projects.
The regional documents list:
- project documentation for the building permit,
- architectural study,
- structural stabilisation project,
- documentation for the building permit.
These measures indicate that the historic villa had reached a condition in which its immediate securing and protection against further deterioration had to be addressed first.
The house, which was built more than a century ago as a representative guesthouse for spa visitors, is therefore now primarily waiting for its next chapter.
SURROUNDINGS
Villa Chromý stands in a part of Jáchymov that represents one of the town's most interesting ensembles of villa architecture.
Further villas and guesthouses gradually appeared in its surroundings, many of them associated with Franz Rehn. On the hillside we find, for example, Pension Sonnenhof, the later Villa Mayer – Hotel Panorama, as well as a number of other houses which together create the distinctive character of this part of Jáchymov.
Villa Chromý is one of the earliest buildings in this ensemble. It was built before the First World War and represents an early phase in the transformation of the hillside above the town into a representative villa district.
CONCLUSION
Villa Chromý is one of the buildings through which the transformation of Jáchymov at the beginning of the 20th century can be clearly traced.
In 1912, Johann Chromý, the brewmaster of the municipal brewery, commissioned Franz Rehn to design a new guesthouse. Two years later, a distinctive three-storey building with a mansard roof, massive gables, bay windows, balconies and a viewing arcade stood on the hillside above the railway station.
It was not merely a new house. It was part of a transformation intended to turn Jáchymov into a modern spa town.
Today, more than a century later, Villa Chromý is above all a valuable testimony to that period. At the same time, it is a reminder of how easily part of a town's history can disappear if its physical fabric is not preserved in time.
