Villa of Ryszard Geyer

Czerwona 3

At the turn of the 20^th century, the Geyer family made a series of investments along Czerwona street built in 1827 in the town of Łódka between the Piotrkowski tract and the Traugott Lange cotton yarn dye-works located at Wólczańska street. The name of the street – meaning “red” – is no coincidence. It is a reference to “Turkish red” – a fabric dye that turned the local sewage red.

Ryszard, the eldest son of Ludwik Geyer, built his residence on a large double plot between 1897 and 1898. The two-storey building, similar to previous family villas, featured numerous Neo-Renaissance influences. It was designed by the acclaimed architect Piotr Brukalski, whose portfolio includes many splendid residences in Łódź, the building of the Industry and Crafts School at Pańska street, and a distinctive animal clinic adorned with a horse sculpture. After years of neglect, the villa was carefully restored. As a result, the façade once again features its aediculae, windows surrounded by columns with top mouldings and triangular pediments, herms with female heads at the entrance, as well as a decorative frieze on top. Of the original lavish interior, the Neo-Baroque and Neo-Rococo crown mouldings, door woodwork and joinery, and Classicist brick fireplace with a mirror in the eastern living room survive along with the ceiling stained glass from the 1920s featuring horns of plenty and flowers. This piece was most likely created by Dezydery Mocznay from Zbąszyń.

The villa’s surroundings have changed significantly since its early days. In 1908, the Geyer family sold the eastern part of the property to the Evangelical-Augsburg Parish of St. John for the construction of St. Matthew’s Church. During the interwar period, a large tenement house was built at the corner of Wólczańska street. In 1996, the residence became the headquarters of the Regional Medical Chamber.