The villas represent the Renaissance Revival and Art Nouveau style, enriched by the so-called resort style, found in the half-timbered parts of the façade, wooden verandas, and openwork geometric and foliate woodcarving decoration.

History

The villa at 5 Mokwy street was built in about 1891 for Carl Emil Breda and his wife Meta. Carl Emil Breda was a state construction inspector, and from 1892 he held the function of a Royal Building Supervisor. The married couple lived in Gdańsk. They used to spend their holidays in Sopot. After her husband died in 1900, counsellor Meta Breda moved to Sopot to live there on a permanent basis. She was a well-known and respected person. She was a member of the management board of the local Singing School and a member of the Association of German Women. Villa No. 5 was designed by architect Wilhelm Werner. Presumably, at the time of construction of the villa, a small single-storey house (No. 5b) was built deep within the plot. It probably functioned as an outbuilding. In 1905, next to the outbuilding, another spectacular villa (No. 5a) was built according to the design by Carl Kupperschmitt. The owner of the property resided in one of the apartments in the new building, while the rest of the apartments were let to tenants. In the early 1930s, counsellor Breda sold the whole estate to Carmelita Szydłowska from Kościerzyna. Currently, both villas are occupied, while the outbuilding is not used.

Description

The property is located in the area of the Dolny Sopot district, on the southern frontage of Mokwy street. Villa No. 5 is situated in the front, and deep within the plot there are villa No. 5a and outbuilding No. 5b. The front villa is separated from the street with a front yard. The eastern part of the plot is occupied by a driveway, and the rest of the plot - by a garden. The plot is surrounded by well-spaced villas and boarding houses and their gardens.

Villa No. 5 was built in the Italian neo-Renaissance style, with elements of the so-called resort style. It is made of brick and built on a rectangular floor plan with two wooden verandas. In the front façade, there is a single-storey veranda, overhanging at the level of the first floor, and in the western façade, a two-storey veranda. Additionally, at the western façade on the first floor, there is a wooden balcony. The building is covered with a multi-hipped roof covered with roofing paper, with a small pitch and with eaves considerably projecting forward. The architectural detail include profiled window casings, cornices, and corner rustication. Additionally, in the front façade there is a lavish sculpture decoration. In the ground floor, there is an aedicula with a female statue in a classical robe, holding a bunch of flowers. In the second storey, there are blind windows with female heads and strapwork. The verandas, particularly the front one, are decorated with openwork geometric and foliate wood carvings.

Villa No. 5a was built in the Art Nouveau and resort style. The body of the villa is fragmented. It was built on a rectangular floor plan, with two storeys, a three-storey pseudo-avant-corps and a corner two-storey veranda built on a polygonal plan. The main body of the building is situated with its roof ridge parallel to the street, while the pseudo-avant-corps is situated with its gable wall facing the street. The roof is of gable type. The walls are mainly made of brick. The veranda and the upper storeys of the avant-corps are half-timbered structures, with a decorative pattern of posts and beams. In the front façade, there is a linear Art Nouveau architectural detail, centered around the staircase area and window casings. In the staircase, there are Art Nouveau external and internal doors as well as stained glass windows.

Outbuilding No. 5b was built on a rectangular floor plan, with a porch on the west side, and a large annex on the south side. It is a one-storey building, with an elevated knee wall, covered with a gable roof. It is made of brick, with a gable covered with boards and a wooden porch. In the top section of the façade, there are openwork window and bargeboard woodcarving surrounds.

No visitor access to the building. Private property.

compiled by Beata Dygulska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Gdańsk, 12-01-2015.

Bibliography

• Budowniczy Carl Kupperschmitt (1847-1915), katalog wystawy, praca zbiorowa pod red. M. Buchholz-Todoroskiej, Sopot 2004, s. 57-58;
• Domańska H., Magiczny Sopot, Gdańsk 2007, s. 132-135;