Fonciere Mansion, 2 Andrássy Road

Source: MESZL Budapest Collection

In the decades following the Negotiation, one of the notable architects, the master of neo-Renaissance mansions was Adolf Feszty. The papers of the era said that he had designed at least thirty building on the current Andrássy Road, but we only know eleven that are definitely his works. He is still rightfully called one of the defining architects of the representative Boulevard (“Sugárút”), officially opened in 1876.

 
Adolf Feszty, architect (left) built the mansion on Andrássy Road (right)
Source: ma7.sk, kitervezte.hu

One of his most significant buildings is the Fonciere Mansion on the corner of Andrássy Road and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky street. The Insurance Company of Pest, established in 1864, has merged in December 1879 with the Fonciere Insurance Company, which had French capital. They bought a property for its new mansion on the most frequented part of the Boulevard, and advertised a design contest in 1881. Out of the 58 designs, four received payment - Gyula Pártos, Ödön Lechner, Ervin Quittner and Adolf Feszty - and the company chose Feszty for the job.

    
Source: welovebudapest.com

The imposing building was finished under one and half years, in November 1882. The shape of the property posed some challenge for Feszty, which he had successfully overcome: on the blunt corner lot, he designed a four-story Italian Renaissance style building with a rounded corner, gabled and terraced, accented with balconies decorated with Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns, and embellished with a dome, the entrance opening to the Boulevard. The corner dome reached 63 meters, including the weathervane.

 
Source: MESZL Budapest Collection, kitervezte.hu

The entrance hall and the staircase was decorated with marble, the metal frame of the main stairs was done by Ganz and Co. There were 19 large, comfortable apartments created inside, the larger ones with their own bathrooms, but they also had water and gas and a telephone network. The building under 2 Andrássy Road can still be viewed without its dome and the four gryphons watching over the city on the corners: they were destroyed in World War II.

   
Source: welovebudapest.com

However, the gold-plated, originally made from zinc, statue of Hermes with two gryphon has returned to the gable in 1990, and the inscription is visible on the renovated building: “Fonciere Pesti Biztosító Intézet” (Fonciere Pest Insurance Company - ed.).

     
Source: welovebudapest.com

After nationalization, the building was once again famous for its antiquary on the corner. One of the mansion was Vilmos Kondor (1895-1971), the Kossuth Award-winning conductor of the Hungarian State Opera House.

 
Source: Wikipedia, welovebudapest.com

The neo-Renaissance mansion on the corner of Andrássy Road and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky street has a meticulously detailed design: the decorated facade hides a neatly created interior. Although nowadays the passage of time is obvious, the wrought-iron railing of the stairs, the courtyard, the marble steps can still bring back elegance of the old times. An antique statue stands in the entrance hall, the letterboxes are lit up with a stylish lamp, the stairs are wide - gold and bronze-coloured arches lean over them.

Source: welovebudapest.com

Sources: pestbuda.hu, kitervezte.hu, welovebudapest.com