24 mars 2012
The history of Casa Miclescu, bdul Kiseleff nr. 35-37, Bucharest and a new owner?
(Photo source: Reptilianul / Hasnas from Radu Miclescu's Archive)
My thanks to the dedication of Florina and the work by passionate bloggers for the following historic information of what used to be the very beautiful Casa Miclescu on bdul Kiseleff - Bucharest's most beautiful avenue. Today, Casa Miclescu looks as if it has been hit by an unimaginably vicious tornado. The roof is no more, allowing for snow to pile up in the once stunning ballroom where the painter Mirea lived and decorated the ceilings himself, doors hang off their hinges, windows smashed and frames splintered. It is hard to imagine how gorgeous, how luxurious it was and that anyone could have lived a life of class and elegance within its walls. But they did. Every Thursday, an elegant ball was thrown, attended by personalities of Romania's interbellum period - Cantacuzino, Brancoveanu, Sturdza, Greceanu... It was one of THE places to be and be seen during that Golden Era, now long gone.
This is the story of the Miclescu family, in particular, Colonel Radu Miclescu. And once you've heard it, your heart will weep all the harder for the lamentable state in which the house finds itself today, having known all that went on under its roof. Casa Miclescu is not one of the houses that 'cries'. Casa Miclescu literally screams in agony...
(Photo: Sandu Sturdza, Radu Miclescu, and his wife Elsa with their dog on the tennis courts at the back of the house. Source: Hasnas.com from Radu Miclescu's Archive with thanks)Jean Miclescu (1857-1920), descendant of a noble Moldavian family, and his wife Alina Cantacuzino (1868-1915) bought the house built by Ion Mincu from the painter, George Demetrescu Mirea in 1902 whose budget had run dry before it was finished.
Their son, a colonel, Radu Miclescu married Elsa Florescu, a talented sculptress and daughter of a prominent Romanian diplomat. Casa Florescu, incidentally, is on str. Henry Coanda nr.22, and was designed by Ion Berindey. But I digress...
Because Colonel Miclescu could not pay the high property taxes demanded under the communist regime in an act of vengeance against intellectuals and the 'bourgeoisie' (dixit "of unhealthy origin"), they were told to vacate the premises and relocate to an apartment on the outskirts of Bucharest. Colonel Miclescu was, in fact, thrown into prison for three days 'to think about things' when he refused categorically to leave the house. When he returned home, he found that he and his wife had been ostracised to one room (some say it was a bathroom, others refute this, reporting that it was simply a room of minuscule proportions - either way, it is appalling) and a pantry. The house was 'given' (not 'nationalised') to the local ICRAL, a state organisation in charge of the management of nationalised properties. ICRAL divided the villa distributing the space according to the weight of the applicants (to be discussed further on). Lodgings were given to seven families at Casa Miclescu, amongst them, a painter by the name of Stefan Szonyi, his wife Mery and their daughter Anca (who lives in Paris today). As per 'Iony Mar', a commenter on Reptilianu's blog, other tenants included members of the Rosetti family, a Mrs Rallet, a Mrs Filip and two German women who later emigrated to Germany. Gypsies lived in the windowless basement. Iony adds that, as a child, he and his family also lived in Casa Miclescu - and they were the dearest years of his life. He recalls the walks on Kiseleff with fond memories. During this time, the land on which the house was built was still property of the Miclescus. Elsa Miclescu continued to grow her own vegetables for a while.
Being just a child then, however, Iony was blissfully unaware of the suffrance and hardships of those living in the house, particularly the Miclescus, who kept themselves very much to themselves.
By the mid '60s, the house had been invaded by gypsies under whom the Miclescus suffered greatly. Colonel Miclescu was even beaten up badly at one point, ending up in hospital for some time. One of the most saddening considerations is how, for those long and what must have seemed endless 40 years, the Miclescus tried so very hard to make themselves invisible to others, lest they be victims of yet further attacks or, perhaps, worse still, dispossessed of their abode, however meagre it may have been. They were scared of their intruders, afraid of being thrown out of their home and strove to be forgotten, to blend into the paintwork as it were.... The image in one's mind of these good, decent people holding on to their little room for all they were worth despite the constant aggressions from the residents in the basement and the persecution from the authorities is unimaginable. Only those who have ever battled for invisibility due to sheer fear can possibly know, or relate to, this feeling - it is, sadly, in no way unique. Any persecuted people struggles to remain inconspicuous for as long as possible - the enemies of the people, the jews... "undesirables". The example of Victor Klemperer in Dresden in the early 40s comes immediately to mind (see his Dresden Diaries). His wife had to be the one to go out shopping to the market looking for a few potatoes or a handful of turnips, for she was arian and, having risked so many beatings and humiliations because he was a jew, Klemperer was far too terrified of a repetition or the bigger threat of deportation to leave the house, even when they were starving and desperate and his wife could barely walk due to an untreated twisted ankle. Constant, grinding, ice-cold fear. When one thinks of Victor Klemperer, one can run a parallel to the Miclescus who made themselves so imperceptible in their own house. They hid themselves away, purely and simply. Oh yes - the constant, grinding, ice-cold fear of being noticed, singled out, persecuted.... One could say perhaps that to make such a parallel is unthinkable. Victor Klemperer risked Auschwitz, the most unthinkable of horrors. What did Colonel Miclescu risk? I'll tell you. He risked Jilava, Aiud or Sighet penitentiaries where he would be beaten, frozen, tortured or starved to death like so many "undesirables" of his time. He risked deportation to Baragan (a death camp in itself) and he risked the Canal from which he would be unlikely to ever return. Romania, too, had its death camps. It would be a huge error as well as a massive insult to minimise exactly what Colonel Miclescu did indeed risk.
Iony Mar left the house at one point with his mother when his parents divorced, but when he returned in 1967 to visit Anca, he found the beautiful trees all chopped down: firs, plum, quince and poplar. Hanging from the bushes were metal wires from which clothes were hanging out to dry. In less than a decade, the house had become unrecognisable...
(Photo: Elsa Miclescu on the staircase, Casa Miclescu. Source: Hasnas.com from Radu Miclescu's Archive with thanks)As Florina was researching all this, she fell upon an extraordinary and moving article regarding the colonel, written by his nephew through marriage, the historian and Professor Emeritus at Boston College, Radu Florescu, today aged 86. The Florescu family left Romania in 1941 for the UK where Professor Florescu studied for both his BA and MA at Christ Church, Oxford and then moved to the US where he completed his PhD at the University of Indiana. Knowing how much his uncle and aunt were suffering, the Florescus begged them several times to let them organise their departure from Romania, but Colonel Radu and Elsa refused.
In this article, we discover that the house was indeed divided, as mentioned above, into seven lots and occupied by different families along with gypsies living in the basement who fought constantly with the Miclescus. One day, after an argument, the 'basement residents' found a valuable old portrait of one of the colonel's descendants and completely destroyed it. Colonel Miclescu was greatly disturbed by these constants rows which hindered their existence, already well beyond miserable.
The largest part of the house was assigned to the painter Stefan Szonyi, previously noted and a favourite of the communist regime. When Stefan died in 1967, his wife and beautiful daughter, Anca (who also had an older step-sister Julieta Szonyi Ghiga, actress today at Teatrul Mic), befriended, developed a sincere admiration for and helped the Miclescu family during the worst period of their lives. It was the Szonyis who stood by the fact that the Miclescus were the true owners of the house. The Miclescus were indeed assigned the tiniest room in the house, formerly occupied by servants.
As for the Rosettis, who were assigned a part of the house too, they had been dispossessed. Their home was probably given to party protegés... Today, one can understand why the whole sosea area is now populated by the 'mai-bai', as I call them: they are the offspring of those who received lodgings in houses whose rightful owners were given 24 hours to pack and leave. Just look at it: Rabat, Paris, Sofia, Roma, Londra, Zambaccian, etc. There must have been over 1,000 dispossessed families, the Rosettis amongst them...
(Photo: The salon, 1902. Source: Hasnas from Radu Miclescu's Archive with thanks)In Professor Florescu's article, he mentions that the Thai ambassador's wife bought some of the heirlooms the Miclescus managed to bury in the garden and that the house had a tennis court, stables, a garage and a green house. The Miclescus certainly have to be admired for their tenacity to remain where they felt they belonged and for surviving as they did.
Colonel Miclescu was a graduate of Saint Cyr, the famous French military school, and a valiant war veteran awarded with the Légion d'Honneur. He fought in Oituz most bravely, was very badly injured and was left with a limp for the rest of his life. He had a war pension that was so miserable he couldn't possibly have survived on it and during this most terrible of times, gave French lessons to students of the 'new class' to get by, one of them Anca Szonyi, daughter of the painter living in the house, too, with whom he and his wife formed a close friendship. Shameful, heartbreaking, that a man who had fought so hard for his country and had been left disabled as a result should be treated in such a brutal manner by the ruling authorities and made to put up with such humiliating conditions. His wife also gave lessons (English?) to help scrape a living.
(Photo: Casa Miclescu, winter, 1970. Source: Hasnas from Radu Miclescu's Archive with thanks)
The 1977 earthquake made the house uninhabitable and it is not clear whether the building was consolidated - it is unthinkable to imagine the Miclescus and other residents living amongst the damage and rubble.
In 1984, Elsa Miclescu died during a terribly harsh winter. There was no difference in temperature outside the house in the winter of 1984 than in. So many were condemned to the cold that year. Elsa caught a chill and there wasn't a doctor who could get to her. She died during the night, admiring Mirea's painting on the salon ceiling. For the colonel, it was an immense loss. He loved her for so many reasons, amongst them, her artistic talent, courage and patriotism.
It is important to mention here that Professor Florescu managed to intercede on his family's behalf. For the last four years of his life, although very thin, weak, his clothing in tatters and increasingly more immobile due to his war-wound and subsequent limp, Colonel Miclescu had food on his table. Through Professor Florescu, the American embassy personnel provided the old colonel, who lived just around the corner, with food and any necessary medicines he may have needed.
General Charles de Gaulle was a school friend of Colonel Miclescu from their days together at Saint Cyr. When he visited Bucharest, he produced a list of all the people he wanted to meet. Colonel Miclescu was on it. For his meeting with Charles de Gaulle, Colonel Miclescu dressed himself in his army uniform. Can one imagine the huge emotion of this man, renegated to that tiny room and a pantry in his own house, made to live such humiliations and virtually penniless, as he polished his buttons, smoothed out his uniform and prepared to meet with his old school friend, Charles de Gaulle. Of course, the authorities made sure he was spruced up as far as possible, too, to give a good impression. For sure, their conversations (Colonel Miclescu spoke superb French) were overhead and it must have been a very disagreeable moment which should have been such a joyous reunion. It certainly brings a lump to the throat.
Colonel Miclescu's regret that De Gaulle had to resign following the 1968 riots in France must have been overwhelming. Had he stayed in power, perhaps the fate of this family would have been quite different.
This beautiful blogpost from Hasnas.com written in April 2009 captures Casa Miclescu as it once was - here, one can visit the Miclescu family - Elsa and Radu, their friends, the interior of the house from 1902-1948/9 (see photos above for just a few). It is a journey into another world - a world of beautiful dresses, dinners and elegance - now, sadly, gone forever. When one compares how it was with how it is, one can only cry with grief, indignance and rage. How could this have happened? How could such beauty have been so wilfully destroyed? How could the lives of such people have ended so miserably? The history of Casa Miclescu is almost a symbolic parallel of so much of Romania's own history - decency, intellectualism, beauty reduced to dust by the ignorant, the greedy and the indecent.
In January 1990, Colonel Miclescu filled out the documents to reclaim his house. He died in March 1990 at the age of 97 in the tiny room where he had been forced to live for 40 years. The great satisfaction was that he had survived Ceausescu and communism. Despite so much hardship, persecution, humiliation and suffering, he had lived long enough to see the end of both.
(Photo: Casa Miclescu, 2009. Source: Case care plang)The surviving Radu Miclescu, who sold Casa Miclescu to Titi Dumitriu, the 'mai-bai' Steaua coach, in 1994 is the colonel's nephew, son of his brother, Gheorghe. He is married to Miona, née Flondor (an old aristocratic family from Bucovina with documentation stretching back to the XVIc) and lives in the restored cottage/mansion in Calinesti where he spent the first eleven years of his life. Once in Bucharest, he went to school at what is today I.L Caragiale on calea Dorobantilor. Arrested in the 'rafle' that took place at the high school along with Marioana Cantacuzino and others in 1951/52, he was thrown into prison on trumped-up charges. His mother was approached by the Securitate to collaborate following her son's release. So appalled at the thought of spying for these detested communists and so terrified of what would happen to her and her family if she refused, young Radu Miclescu's mother committed suicide.
(Photo: Casa Miclescu - willful neglect, 2012. Source: Reptilianul)
Regarding the selling of Casa Miclescu to Titi Dumitriu, the author of the very informative blog Hasnas.com went to see Radu Miclescu at his home in Moldova. Here is what she told me: "Radu Miclescu was actually forced to sell the house. Both the house and the mansion in Moldova were still in "litige"/trial - and he was told that, if he insists on regaining this one, he will lose both. He was advised to sell the Kiseleff house, in trial as it was. So, the next day some deputy of the footballer appeared out of nowhere - and bought the house for less then 1/10th of the land's value... He also told me that the beautiful stables of the mansion were demolished just the day before he arrived, when he had already won back the property, just out of pure spite." What can one add. This is a lesser-known fact. I myself wondered why he had sold the villa to such an individual. Now we know and there's nothing left to say that is even vaguely printable.
(Photo: Beyond words - 2012 Source: Radulescu Victor Photography with thanks)
This letter was sent to the Minister of Culture on February 16th, 2011 regarding the demolition and destruction of Romanian patrimony, but nothing happened. Just look at all the buildings that are mentioned... Other letters addressed to Kelemen Hunor have since followed but with the same result: nothing.
There is news, however. A very surprising and optimistic comment on Reptilianul's blog appears on February 23rd, 2012 from a Herr 'Herbert'. A German citizen, he states that he himself bought the house in January of this year, and is waiting for the spring to assess the damage and decide whether or not it can be renovated.... He says, "Intentia mea este sa o pastrez si s-o renovez!" - wonderful, heart-warming news. Perhaps Titi Dumitriu, the previous owner, got fed up waiting for his efforts to destroy the house through blatently willful neglect to bear fruit and decided to get rid of it? Looking at the photos of the terrible destruction on Reptilianu's blog, along with those of Victor Radulescu, I pray there is something left to salvage so that renovation may indeed begin.
(Photo: Casa Miclescu 2012. Source: Radulescu Victor Photography with thanks)
Neither Florina nor I can find anything whatsoever on-line about the new owner of Casa Miclescu, nor indeed anything about the house having been sold. But spring has already arrived in Bucharest. May Easter, only a few weeks away, bring not only the light of the resurrection to every Romanian heart - but also to the very soul of Casa Miclescu and the spirits of all those who lived within its walls.
My thanks to Florina for her passionate research and to Reptilianul, Dorothee Hasnas and Radu Miclescu, Case care plang and Victor Radulescu for their photographs.
Commentaires sur The history of Casa Miclescu, bdul Kiseleff nr. 35-37, Bucharest and a new owner?
- Thank youWonderful post! Thank you! So informed and so well-researched. Bravo also to Florina - and to the photographers. All in all superb.
But how sad. How tragic. How grotesque, what happened to the colonel, his wife and of course so many like them. We destroy all good we have in this country. It is a sickness that is part of our DNA. We have done it through our whole history and will always do it.
Now, when I walk past what was a beautiful house, I will remember the colonel, his wife, Anca, Iony and all those who lived there. I shall not see it just as a house but like you say at the end, a soul.
Thank you again - make a house liveThank you for this blog about people who have lived in this house. It makes the house live to me. I pass in front of here very much and never think about it like anything more than a ruin. Shame on me. Your blog makes it someones home and even more horiible what is happned to it.
I am happy that colonel Miclescu has lived to see the end of Ceausescu and the regime who made his life (and other) very very hard. - S-a scris mai mult despre aceasta vila in primul rand pentruca a fost cumparata de un mitocan care asteapta ca aceasta casa sa se autodistruga si apoi sa vand terenul care este foarte valoros. Te puteai astepta ca un ignorant de antrenor, dr cu bani, sa procedeze altfel? De vina este primaria sectorului care nu a inscris vila pe lista patrimoniului. Si aici, probabil, s-au facut interventii si nu e de mirare.
Cazul vilei din Kiseleff este tipic pentru ce s-a intamplat in Bucuresti cu proprietatile retrocedate unor oameni in vsrsta, la capatul puterilor, obositi de a face dovada ca sunt inderptatiti la casa respectiva. Foarte multe sunt cazurile cand intermediari unscupulosi si cu pile la primarie au inselat pe acesti oameni in varsta oferindu-le o suma oarecare in schimbul transferului dreptului de proprietate. M-a impresionat la lacrimi articulul dlui Radu Florescu, nepotul colonelului Radu Florescu privind ultimii ani de viata ai acestuia. Va rog cititi-l si ganditi-va ca au fost sute de familii la fel de deposedate numai pentru ca avea nume de "dusmani ai poporului" ca Bratianu, Brancoveanu, Rosetti, Racovitza, Sturdza.. etc - PS la comentariul de mai susDati un click pe acest titlu:
http://www.lumeamilitara.ro/index.php?mod=articol&idart=14&idsectiune=8§iune=Masina%20timpului&numar=4/2005
Dl Radu Florescu este profesor de istorie la un college din Boston si a scir extensiv despre personajul istoric de legenda Dracula pe langa alte subiecte. - Une honte administrativeI was for one year with the Ministry of Culture. Before resigning i tried to initiate two expropriations: first one for this house and the second for Assan Mill. For this house there was a problem locating Titi Dumitriu to notfy him. After that, things stagnated and minister Paleologu washed his hands saying that this is the competence of the mayor of Bucharest since it is a class "B" mounment. For Assan Mill the response of legal system was that there are two presumed owners that are having a lawsuit over the property therefore it is not possible to espropriate (!???) ...
Sad. I had the chance to work some ten years ago at the Calinest Manor of Radu Florescu as i did the survey of the building and the research of its evolution (there is a nucleous and some extentions of the original building) for arch. Sturdza that conducted the restoration. I am sorry that i could not do enough for this Miclescu house as i had not enough administrative power for that. - To AdrianDear Adrian - I'm sorry too...but I guess what we are fighting is not a simple one man band but a whole mafioso of real estate bandits - the likes of Dumitriu who buy beautiful houses for a song, leave to rot, destroy through neglect and then build some revolting structure on top of it to make a mint...
Just a question - you mentioned the Calinesti manor (conac, right?) of Radu Florescu - do you mean Florescu or Miclescu? Seeing as how they are both called Radu, it's a little confusing. I thought the villa at Calinesti belonged to Radu A. Miclescu?
It is a great pity that Paleologu did not show more gumption... I certainly hope he regrets it now. What could you do, Adrian, more than you did - at least you tried, which is more than most. Paleologu should certainly have been just as motivated and determined as you were to do something about this, to save those two buildings and stay on target... pff... - To Adrian ps.PS. Im not surprised you resigned - congratulations for lasting a whole year!! Jos palaria to you. I'm not sure I could have put up with such a weak and indifferent bunch for an entire week without blowing a fuse. Of course, I could be being harsh in my judgement, in which case I hope you will correct me
- Privind pe fostul antrenor al SteleiDraga Adrian
Este oare posibil sa dam de acest individ (Dimitriu) si sa vedem care ii sunt intentiile? Mai ales, ar fi bine de stiut daca aceasta vila a fost intr-adevar cumparata de un cetatean german cu buna intentie sau sansa de a reface casa daca practic mai poate fi salvat ceva..
Ma bucur ca ai incercat sa faci ceva, adica la un moment dat ai incercat sa opresti distrugerrea acestei case.. Inteleg ca a fost imposibil sa te lupti cu "city hall", asa cum se spune. - Yes, my mistake: Radu Miclescu. I never actualy met him even if i spent some two weeks at Calinesti - nice and quiet place. I met also Radu Florescu but the other one, the historian and archaeologist who was doing researches at Capidava. He took me in two consecutive years doing some sketches/surveys of the archaeological digs he did there with his students and those from Sibiu.
I've been with minister Iorgulescu. He seemed to be preoccupied not to have any scandals and to have well organized George Enescu Festival. Heritage? He did not understand it or really care about it. He was in luck that other one was preparing Sibiu 2007 ... Paleologu instead, he claimed he care but he did worse than Iorgulescu in my oppinion ...
@Doina: inteleg ca a vandut unui german. Personajul era foarte cunoscut: fost jucator de fotbal si antrenor la Steaua. Poate de aceea nu s-au putut urni lucrurile. - Un scurt articol din Adevarul, 23 Martie 2012Julieta Szonyi, (sora vitrega a Ancai Szonyi) a jucat in "Enigma Otiliei" si filmarile au avut loc in vila Miclescu.Planul primariei:
http://www.adevarul.ro/locale/bucuresti/bucuresti-stiri_din_bucuresti-conac-patrimoniu-expropiere-casa-kiseleff-consilieri-primarie-sorin_oprescu_0_668933351.html
Dece nu l-a amendat pe acel mitocan, Titi Dimitriu si partenerul lui pentru nepasarea lor criminala?
Poate stie cineva mai mult... - PerplexedRe: Doina V's link in the comment above: I just don't understand it. Whilst I am very glad that 2 million lei is being considered for casa Miclescu from PMB's coffers (ie the tax payer - and the tax payers should, I think, participate in the reconstruction of their patrimony since the majority of them sat back and did nothing while it was allowed to be demolished under their very noses), this underlines that the house is a listed monument (category B) and thus should never have ended up this way in the first place - Dumitriu should have faced legal proceedings and been forced to pay the price of the restoration and consolidation. In a 'normal' country, that would certainly be the case. He would be sued through the nose and charged with willful damage.
Next point: If the house really has been bought by Herr Herbert, then why is the PMB giving anything at all?? Because it's elections and will soften up the few inteligentia that still remain in Bucharest? For Oprescu to thumb his nose at Nicusor Dan in a 'see, I too can do something for patrimony' guise? Or what? Why would the PMB think about donating this money for a house they COULD have done something about since 1994 but didn't, but are considering doing so NOW that it's been bought by a German citizen? It was a listed monument back then and the listing hasn't changed. What an abyssmal embarrassment for Romania that a class B historic monument should be in this state. As for 2mn lei, yes, its better than a smack with a wet fish but its a drop in the bucket... the house is so abused, so mutilated, it'll cost a fortune to restore, if, indeed, restoration is a possibility.
Final point: I've spent another good hour googling my fingers off trying to find something, anything about the sale between Dumitriu and Herbert in Jan of this year. Nimic. De loc. Google.ro, google.fr, google.com, nothing at all. As if it never happened. Surely, after the number of times it has appeared in the press these last few years and we bloggers have reported on it a multitude of times, well you'd think it would have been pretty important news. So then, why is there nothing to be found anywhere? Did it really happen or was the comment left on Reptilianu's blog just someone having a joke? I sincerely hop not.
I really don't get it.
Any ideas? - Maybe they took into account the theory of Stefan Damian who used to say that expropriation in such cases shoul be calculated like the value of the property minus the amount of money needed to bring it back to the original state. The problem is that there is no legal background to do such calclation unless the judges have some training in the field. Usualy judges or prosecuters end up with NUP (neinceperea urmaririi penale) since they take into consideration purely the matters of property. Sadly, in 2006 when the monuments law 422/2001 was in Parliament for changes, i tryed to introduce a new article in order to be possible to demonstrate the bad intentions of such owners. It was a step by step procedure with some time intervals to solve the problems starting with a warning. After that could came (in three months) a warning with minimal fine. After other three months warning with maximal fine and at the end expropriation. Based on the fact that the owner has the obligation to announce damages when producing and to maintain his property and for this, the ministry of culture has a system of credit even without interest so if the owners waan to do something and do not have the money at least they could ask for it and prove in this way their good will. That was the philosophy. The UDMR deputy Marton Arpad, member of the subcomittee for culture in the House of Deputies rejected the amendment ... so back from where we stood before. "Prinde chiorul - scoate-i ochii" since there is no punishment for the owner that fail to respect their obligation to maintain their monument. And the judges use that and the public clerks fear to initiate expropriation as it could be "atac la proprietate".
- questions to AdrianThank you so much for your explanation, Adrian - my goodness, you were really David fighting Goliath.... It's wonderful to hear that there was someone TRYING to make things legal, honouring the law, respecting heritage - someone who cared - at least, for a time.
Something I don't understand since I haven't been following the press closely enough, perhaps: is there an intention then, to expropriate Casa Miclescu - if so, this would explain the 2mn lei, perhaps... Not a donation to save the house but included in plans for the state (or PMB) to nab it... If that is the case, then what about this 'new owner' Herbert, who wrote on Reptilianul's blog on Feb 23rd that the house had a German owner (himself) since Jan 2012 and that he intended to restore the house 'dans les mésures du possible'?
Surely if there are attempts being made to expropriate the house, then it is still in the hands of Dumitriu, a Romanian? A new owner would not be considering such an offer after only 3 months, would he? Is it possible to expropriate the preoperty of a foreigner on Romanian land? I don't know the law on that. If he did indeed buy it, I'm wondering what he paid... the land, I suppose is still costly, but the poor dear house is not worth much except from a historical point of view.
The house, I believe, has not lost its position on the class list of historic monuments as a category B, right?
Sorry to ask such silly questions, but either I don't understand something fndamental (probably due to my slowness in reading Romanian and maybe getting the wrong end of the stick) or things really don't add up, ie. there is NO new owner... aoleu.... - Vorbe, vorbe...Ma doare de cat suflet si interes investesti Sarah...dar Casa Miclescu se afla la 300m de Ministerul Culturii, intr-o zona parcursa frecvent de Oprescu si Chiliman - care are sotie arhitecta si se da mare cunoscator al valorilor Bucurestilor...in zona rezidentiala cea mai ravnita de mafia caselor...la care este asociata si o buna parte din asa-zisa societate civila...
- Da, Sarah se implica@Dan
Ai dreptate si probabil ca dau din umeri toti cei de care pomenesti mai sus. Oare acei Dimitriu si Puscoci sunt chiar asa mari si tari in Bucuresti?
Mai sunt antrenori sau au iesit la pascut?
O fi adevarat ca ce a ramas din casa a fost vandut unui neamt?
Poate reusesti sa afli ceva.
Numai bine si sanatate
PS Am trimis acest blog tuturor prietenilor mei de aici si din Romania: trei au raspuns in genul: ce pacat sau casele mor, noi murim.. Halal de asemenea popor! - Fatalitati specifice...De fiecare data cand gasesc cate un obiectiv de patrimoniu minunat si original si bag clasare...totul intra in tacere...desi se claseaza...dar aflu indirect si intamplator ca ascunde mari escrocherii imobiliare in spate...Pana si la Cavoul Mauriciu Blank din Baneasa...
Doar in Piata Universitatii se mai poate face si spera ceva...! Nu vreau sa cred ca am initiativele urmarite de mafiotii speculatori... - Alt articole despre vila MiclescuEste articolul scris de Cristina Petrescu in revista Metropotam:
http://ro.stiri.yahoo.com/love-bucuresti-casa-miclescu-kiseleff-35-37-140000303.html
Nu aduce nimic nou fata de ce scrie doamna Sarah in blogul ei dar vad ca exista totusi un interes. Din pacate nimeni nu poate spune daca a fost vanduta casa sau nu.
Domnule Adrian, Va felicit din toata inima pentru efortul pe care l-adi depus incercand sa salvati case de patrimoniu. Ce pacat ca nu ati fost secondat de nume cunoscute ca Sturdza, Paleologu, Plesu.. Este de neinteles atata indiferenta.. La urma urmei este si orasul lor, nu? Stiu, nu sunt asa naiv sa nu inteleg ca la mijloc sunt banii si relatiile. - answer to SarahDo not know about the intention of the municipality. Being a monument, there are legal possibilities to give grants to the private owners but i do not think that should be the case for an owner that was proven genuine bad intentions towards the monument but to an owner of good will that has no other financial means. Otherwise teh price i see here - 2 mil. lei is ridicously low for the value of that propery. So i prefer not to coment more on that.
- Pentru AdrianAm citit despre aceasta "intentie" a primariei si, si mie mi se pare ridicola suma. Intentia celor doi mitocani a fost dela inceput sa lase casa sa se auto distruga.
Intrebarea me este: cum putem afla daca intr-adevar a fost vanduta unui anume Herbert, cetatean german, care are intentia de a o reface, dar fara a fi specific. S-ar putea sa fie o gogorita pentru a linisti spiritele.Poate ca Dumitiru si Puscoci (nume predestinat) au vandut-o sa scape sw interpelari? In orice caz este dubios ca acestia doi au scapat toti acesti ani de a fi amendati de primarie pentru delasarea lor, cu atat mai mult cu cat este destul de aproape de alte cladiri de patrimoniu. - "intentia"Nu se poate afla decat printr-o adresa de la taxe si impozite locale care au in evidenta proprietarul platitor de impozit. De aic si pana la a-l localiza ...
Problema amenzilor este aceea a copilului cu prea multe moase - primaria, MCPN, ISC. La minister a existat ( si exista inca) o problema de forta a implementarii unei amenzi. In primul rand nu s-a reusit decat de data recenta intocmirea unui format de proces verbal si identificarea persoanelor competente sa aplice amenzile. Asta nu inseamna ca ar si exista capacitatea de a da o astfel de amenda in mod real. A se vedea capacitatea politiei de a face ceva in raport cu Hala Matache. Amenzile oricum sunt minore pentru unele situatii cum e si cazul acesta. Repet, nu exista precizat in lege un cuantum de amenda pentru cazurile de neintretinere. Iar in acest caz, in justitie, nu se poate spune ca proprietarul a DISTRUS patrimoniul ci doar ca l-a neglijat din varii motive mai mult sau mai putin obiective. De aceea am si spus: se aplica zicala "prinde orbul, scoate-i ochii". Nu stiu exact cum e acum cu noile prevederi legale introduse de ministerul Udrei referitor la neingrijirea cladirilor in general (nu neaparat monumente) - trebuie sa ma documentez. - Te felicit, Sarahpentru acest extins articol privind casa iclescu. Ar trebui raspandit deoarece se refera nu numai la tragedia unei familii ci, asa cum scrii, la tragedia unei anume paturi sociale, indezirabile si supuse unei lichidari sistematice. Au trecut mai bine de 70 de ani de atunci, din anii 50 si marea majoritate a celor care au suferit nu mai traiesc astazi, iar urmasii lor s-au raspndit prin lume. Durerile si amintirile au ramas. Toate, absolut toate familile "foste" au avut de suferit: Cantacuzino, Sturdza, Brancoveanu (doamna vindea plase de sfoara facute de dansa), Racovitza, Carp, Lambrino, Florescu. etc.. Doar de una Maria Rosetti imi amintesc, presedinta uniunii femeilor democrate, sotia filologului Alexandru Rosetti, care s-a dat cu comunistii dar ikn cele din urma, Cui prodest? Tot in patru scanduri a plecat pe lumea cealalta.
- Suferinta...Impartasesc atentionarea lui Dan M...cu corectivul ca ilustrele familii au avut uneori si oi negre...care au produs la randul lor suferinte, precum colonelul AD Sturdza cu oribila tradare din Primul Razboi Mondial, se zice cu mari implicatii si in batalia Marasestilor...Nume care ma obsedeaza...
- UPDATE!
The new owner was a ...gogaritza. Shame on them. But, TODAY, PMB was done for illegality re: Casa Miclescu. Of course it was illegal...but the ruling comes too late. The terrible damage has been done. Can the house still be salvaged?
http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-administratie_locala-13430730-decizie-curtea-apel-bucuresti-primarul-capitalei-sorin-oprescu-emis-ilegal-autorizatia-demolare-pentru-casa-construita-perioada-interbelica-soseaua-kiseleff-casa-fost-demolata-baza-acelei-autorizatii.htm - But here's an explanation as to what is planned for the area:
Kiseleff 35-37 (Casa Miclescu), 39 (already razed) and 45 + a villa at Ion Mincu 15, corner Kiseleff = all doomed:
http://www.fluximobiliar.ro/stiri-imobiliare/o-vila-din-kiseleff-clasata-nelegal-in-lista-monumentelor.html
Nouveau commentaire
One observation from reading Dorothee's, Radu's and professor Florescu's articles: Radu Miclescu, the nephew and direct descendant of colonel Radu Miclescu, today living at Calinesti states tha he doesn't have descendants. Indeed, BUT there is a nephew of Elsa Florescu, the colonel's wife. This nephew is well known professor Radu F. Florescu, mentioned in your article, who lives in Boston and the south of France. He has, if not mistaken, two children both alive. It would be such a loss if this beautiful Calinesti mansion (conac) restored with TLC would fall back in ruins after the demise of Radu Miclescu. Hope your Romanian friends could come up with additional information.
Thank you for this valuable and well researched article.