Diplomatic Quarter

The city’s inaugural villa district faced challenges in its establishment, as affluent families were reluctant to move to the City Park, built on the reclaimed swamp on the city’s outskirts at that time. The palaces of the Hungarian aristocracy were predominantly clustered around the Buda Castle District or the National Museum’s vicinity. Therefore, only the bourgeoisie was expected to inhabit both sides of the avenue, which was important to the Prime Minister, as well as its adjacent streets. Connecting the city centre to the City Park, Andrássy Avenue, which played a pivotal role during the Millennium Exhibition in 1896 celebrating the country’s thousand-year existence, demanded aesthetically pleasing villas on both sides. Tax incentives were offered to incentivise the builders, although strict regulations governed the villa construction. Andrássy Avenue can be architecturally divided into four distinct parts. The villa district, extending from Bajza Street to Heroes’ Square is unofficially called the Diplomatic Quarter given the presence of several embassies. The villa district continues on the south and east sides of the park, showcasing gems like the Sipeki Balás villa on Hermina Street, known for its fairytale-like asymmetrical Art Nouveau architecture, and the former studio house of the renowned Hungarian sculptor György Zala (creator of the Heroes’ Square sculptures), once considered the largest in Europe, on Stefánia street. The Art Nouveau building was rented by the Libyan embassy for a long time.
 

Local attraction, Local Attraction, Local Area, Off-Site

Returning to the Andrássy Avenue area, the most beautiful villas that once graced Heroes’ Square have evolved over time. The Babocsay villa, originally in Hungarian folk art nouveau style, was transformed by the most famous Hungarian modernist architect and furniture designer of the period, Lajos Kozma, to its current refined form. The building now houses the Serbian embassy and residence. On the opposite side, the Edelsheim-Gyulai villa was once a palace-like residence of renowned countesses between the two world wars, the Edelsheim-Gyulai girls and their stepmother, Ella, who were regular characters in magazines and considered true style icons of their era. When the girls got married (among them Ilona became the daughter-in-law of the head of state and governor Miklós Horthy), the family, which also had a palace in the castle, sold the villa. However, the new owner, Baron Frigyes Born, who campaigned for the spread of cars in Budapest, demolished the building to construct a modern apartment building, which currently houses the Albanian embassy.

 

Local attraction, Local Attraction, Local Area, Off-Site

We would also like to draw attention to two architecturally exceptional former private residences. The Lánczy Palace on the corner of Bajza Street and Benczúr Street looks as if we have suddenly dropped into Paris. The French eclectic-style building was built by bank CEO, Leó Lánczy, for his family, and is now part of the Chinese embassy. The Széchenyi-Vanderbilt Palace on the corner of Bajza Street and Andrássy Avenue was loved by the Soviets after World War II and is currently the main building of the Russian embassy. The former Erdődy villa, reconstructed by New York heiress Gladys Vanderbilt, who had one of the largest dowries in the world at the time, with the architect of the Vanderbilt family, stands out with its Anglo-Saxon style and a luxurious ballroom worthy of a member of one of the richest families in the United States. But how did the Vanderbilt girl get here? At that time, wealthy American families regularly sailed to Europe to give their daughters to impoverished European aristocrats who, in exchange for wealth, also agreed to marry below the rank, thus gaining their status – they were mockingly called dollar princesses at the time. This is also how the young girl met Count László Széchenyi in Karlovy Vary, who was hiding from his creditors in the Czech spa town while hunting for a rich wife. If everything is true, this was indeed a love marriage, but the Vanderbilt family naturally paid the count’s huge debts according to the agreement. The couple lived here until the end of World War I; after which, they founded the Hungarian embassy in Washington and later headed the Hungarian diplomatic mission in London. Their empty palace was made available to the army during World War II, and it became a barracks and a military hospital. The advancing Red Army laid eyes on the palace, as it was the largest building on this section of the avenue, and the embassy workers could be accommodated in the villas that had been seized nearby.

 

Local attraction, Local Attraction, Local Area, Off-Site

Beyond these historical residences, other noteworthy buildings in the area include the headquarters of the current Hungarian ruling party at the Heroes’ Square end of Lendvay Street, one of the most beautiful Parisian Art Nouveau buildings in the city, and the Kőrössy villa, splendidly designed in the same style at the park-side end of Városligeti Alley.

Our guest writer, the Budapest Curator by Kempinski Corvinus: Balázs Pécsi, publisher of The Gentleman's Review luxury & society magazine.