The mansion of Adolf Greiner architect, 88 Dózsa György Road

Source: MESZL Budapest Collection

At the end of the 19^th century, the crossing dirtroad between the Tree-lined Avenue and the City Park was the current Dózsa György road. Its first own name was known from the 1860s: Aréna Road. Its current name has been worn since 1945.

 
The mansion in 1969 (left) and in the beginning of the 2010s as Délibáb Hotel (right)
Source: ilyenisvoltbudapest.hu, epiteszforum.hu

The eclectic mansion on Dózsa György Road was built as the summer house of Adolf Greiner engineer and architect at the beginning of the 1890s. This house is axially symmetric on the Dózsa György Road side, except for the “kitchenettes” on the Délibáb street side and the protrusions of the auxiliary outbuildings. The first floor of the southeast wing was later added to the house, when the designer had the expansion and renovation plans approved in August 1898. This meant a new floor for the south wing, which was separate from the main wing.

 
The visual design of the mansion's latest reconstruction (left) and the results (right)
Source: epiteszforum.hu

In February 1943, the Israelite Women’s Association of Pest had Zsigmond Róth, certified architect, create a reconstruction plan for the property. This had replaced the original dome with a simplified roof. On the plans of the Public Building Design Company (Középülettervező Vállalat or KÖZTI – ed.) from 1983, we can find a hotel-style reconstruction (by: Zoltán Deák), which was designed as the nurse housing unit for Semmelweis University of Medical and Health Scienes. These are the plans for the previous design. The main entrance was closed and the reception desk was placed to the back entrance. The roof was largely simplified and disfigured, compared to the original.

  
Source: hovamenjek.hu, epiteszforum.hu

Later this symmetric building, which had a basement, a ground floor, 2 upper floors, an attic and a loft, operated as the Délibáb Hotel. In the summer of 2012, it opened back up as a four-star hotel called Mirage Fashion Hotel, reconstructed in its original form, the plans drawn up by dr. Lajos Fekete and his colleagues.

During this latest reconstruction, the main stairs were redone as originally planned on the Dózsa György Road side. This way, the main façade got its original function back as the side of the main entrance. This rendered the use of the hidden back entrance to get into the building unnecessary. It was demoted to a secondary entrance, just as initially planned.

   
Source: epiteszforum.hu

According to the plans found in the City Archives, around the basement the ground level was lowered in the back and by Délibáb street, creating a slope. No traces of this can be found today. Two new staff entrances were put into the back façade. The doors put in matched the windows of the basement.

Previous reconstructions of the roof was done completely opposite of the original concept. This aesthetically out-of-place design was redone as per the original plans from Adolf Greiner. New roof decks were also constructed using the height of the original roofing, hidden behind it, so they were completely concealed. After demolishing the old roof, the old dome was rebuilt, giving the mansion its proper finish. This dome contains a luxury suite with its own roof deck and they fit an attic in, as well, thanks to the large inner height.

 
Source: epiteszforum.hu, epa.hu (Octogon Vol 16, Issue 1 (103) (2013.)

Inside the existing staircase, there was a new, steel-framed, glass elevator put in for the requirements of the modern era, and the rails of the stairs were narrowed to have it fit in.

„The building, designed with an outstanding central risalit covered with a French arched mansard roof, is not one of the finest in terms of stylistic sophistication, but it adds to the list of showy examples of mansion architecture” – wrote József Rozsnyai art historian about the building.

  
Source: etterem.hu

The mansion shows the elegance of architecture history, which was completely preserved during the reconstruction of the hotel. Today the building houses not just the hotel, but a medical center and a café, as well, both under the same name: Mirage.

Source: tcmmedic.hu

Sources: epiteszforum.hu, Magyar Narancs (Hungarian Orange - ed.) Vol 33, Issue 46