President Pavel meets neighbours outside the Lumbe Villa. Credit: Petr Pavel, via Facebook.
Prague, Oct 27 (CTK) – President Petr Pavel and his wife Eva have moved into the Lumbe Villa in Prague’s Hradcany neighbourhood, near Prague Castle, according to a post by Pavel on Facebook yesterday.
Earlier on CNN Prima News, Pavel said they planned to stay there during the working week. Pavel has been talking about using the villa since he took office in March. The villa was previously used as a residence by former Presidents Milos Zeman (2013-2023) and President Vaclav Klaus (2003-2013).
In mid-September, the Presidential Office communications department told CTK that the villa was ready for Pavel to move in, following modifications after ten years of use. It said that a large part of the work had been carried out by Presidential Office employees, and that most of the furniture had been bought from regular commercial retailers. “Only furniture that had to take into account the atypical construction of parts of the villa was tailor-made,” it added.
According to the press, the reconstruction into a presidential residence cost CZK 52 million and was designed by architect Pavla Kordovska. Among other things, a new sandstone driveway was built, and a room was added as a residence for the security guard. The vaulted ceilings under the terrace were covered by a plasterboard ceiling and the spiral staircase was replaced by an elevator.
Klaus and his wife moved into the villa in the summer of 2005. Zeman also lived in the villa after his election as president in 2013, but later he stayed mainly in the Lany presidential manor near Prague, and the villa was used by his wife and daughter.
