House of the Gjorgovi Brothers (1928)
Buildings/In 1928, architect Solontsev designed the first house for the Gjorgovi brothers, where the façade decoration hints at the influences of the Art Deco style. The selected motifs, executed as ornaments or plastic decoration, fulfilled the desired representation of luxury for the wealthy investors.
The house occupies a plot set back from the main street line, with only its most representative, richly ornamented yellow façade partially visible from the street. The composition of the façade is symmetrical. The entrance to the ground floor is centrally positioned, and directly above it, on each floor, there is a balcony. At the top, a prominent decorated attic is executed, behind which the roof is hidden (a trend that also appears in the Shukarev House).
Besides being a residence, the house was also used as a lodging house and contained a wine cellar with a large basin where grapes were processed, brandy was distilled, and wine, cognac, and other spirits were produced.
Architect Nikolaj Soloncev
Year of design 1928
Investor / Owner Mile, Lazo, Petre and Nikola Gjorgovi
City / Municipality Veles
/ Veles
Address 8 Septemvri St. No. 78
Floors GF+2
Original typology
Current purpose
Protection status not protected
- Building chronology (project, construction phases)The building was designed in 1928.Number of floorsGF+2Program description (floor plan details)The ground floor of the house was used as a lodging house, while the upper floors served as living spaces. In a separate ground-floor section on the southwestern side of the house's structure, there was a wine cellar, the roof of which functioned as a courtyard/terrace for the first floor of the house. After the liberation, the house was nationalized, and its ground floor housed the former city art gallery, while the wine cellar became the premises of the newly established company "Vinar."StructureThe building is constructed with a solid structural system. The walls are made of fired brick. The roof structure is wooden.RoofМulti-pitched roof with a wooden substructure and a roofing tile finish.FaçadeThe treatment of the main façade features two distinct finishes: one on the ground floor, where the plaster is textured with horizontal linear patterns, ending with a cornice at the transition to the upper floors; and the other on the upper floors, where the façade surface is smoothly finished and painted yellow, adorned with an abundance of stucco decorative elements in a lighter shade. The decorative stucco elements are arranged along the edges of the façade, around the window openings and balcony doors, predominantly featuring geometric and floral motifs with art deco influences. The southern side façade is treated in the same manner but with a more modest use of stucco decorations.CarpentryThe exterior carpentry consists of painted wooden windows and doors (authentic). The external railings and gates are made of wrought iron.Building surroundingsThe house, with its main façade, opens directly onto a small, dead-end private path that provides access to and from the main street. On its southern side, at the level of the first floor, there is a courtyard that can be accessed either from the floor of the house or via stairs (hidden behind a door in a wall on the western side at ground level). The ground surface is finished with terrazzo tiles. In the courtyard, there is a small auxiliary structure.ContextAt the time when the houses designed by the Russian architect Nikolay Solontsev were built, Veles was one of the most developed commercial towns in Macedonia, with a thriving guild life. The main street, near which the Gjorgovi brothers' house is located, was traditionally an artisan street, lined with the shops of some of the most prominent merchant families of Veles, such as the Levkov, Shukarev, Gjorgov, Palashev, and Organdjiev families. This house is the oldest of the three surviving houses that Solontsev built following the model of European urban houses from that period. In 1930, the Gjorgov family, according to Solontsev’s design, built their second house-right next to the first one-and about fifty meters further down the street, a few years later, the house of the well-known Veles merchant Aco Shukarev was also built in the same style.
- RoofМulti-pitched roof with a wooden substructure and a roofing tile finish.FaçadeThe treatment of the main façade features two distinct finishes: one on the ground floor, where the plaster is textured with horizontal linear patterns, ending with a cornice at the transition to the upper floors; and the other on the upper floors, where the façade surface is smoothly finished and painted yellow, adorned with an abundance of stucco decorative elements in a lighter shade. The decorative elements are arranged along the edges of the façade, around the window openings and balcony doors, predominantly featuring geometric and floral motifs with art deco influences. The southern side façade is treated in the same manner but with a more modest use of stucco decorations.CarpentryWooden doors and windows (authentic). External railings and gates are made of wrought iron. The door leading to the stairs that go to the southern courtyard at the first-floor level is made of wooden paneling with a transom window, constructed in a more recent period.Building surroundingsThe house, with its main façade, opens directly onto a small, dead-end private path that provides access to and from the main street. On its southern side, at the level of the first floor, there is a courtyard that can be accessed either from the floor of the house or via stairs (hidden behind a door in a wall on the western side at ground level). The ground surface is finished with terrazzo tiles. In the courtyard, there is a small auxiliary structure.Exterior conditionsatisfactoryExterior authenticitygoodModificationsIn the years following the liberation of Veles, the house was nationalized by the authorities, and the Veles City Art Salon was housed on its ground floor, operating at this location until the year 2000. Visible external interventions from this period include the canopy above the entrance and the metal decorative protective grilles on the ground floor window and door. After the denationalization, when the house was returned to the Gjorgov family, metal stairs and bridges were constructed to connect this house with their second house, which is located directly in front of it. On the eastern façade, PVC shutters were installed on the first-floor windows, and the roof tiles were replaced with new ones.
- not protected
- architectural and aesthetic historical societal/social emotional Besides its undeniable architectural and aesthetic value, the Gjorgovi House from 1928 also holds great historical significance. Together with the family's second house and the house of Aco Shukarev (all designed by architect Solontsev), it is among the first houses in Veles that marked the transition from the traditional 19th-century construction to the new European model of a house.
- The relevant institutions for the protection of cultural heritage and other decision-makers should take into account the values possessed by the building, recognize it as architectural cultural heritage from the period between the two world wars, and register it in the inventory of valuable objects. Recommendation to the owners: The value of the building should be respected when installing elements directly on the façades, and if changes are made, they should be aimed at preserving its authenticity.
- Prosén, I. M. (2014). Art Deco in Serbian Architecture. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Art History. Kadijević, A. & Ilijevski, A. (2021). Architecture and Visual Arts in the Yugoslav Context 1918–1941. Belgrade. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy. Duma.mk. (2018, June 4). Gjorgovi – an educated, honest, and wealthy old family from Veles. Retrieved December 2024, from https://duma.mk/region/veles-3/25309-2018-06-04-00-09-55/ Ladinski, V. (2020, December 2). The Architectural Heritage of Russian Architects in Our Country, Porta3. Retrieved November 2024, from https://www.porta3.mk/graditelskoto-nasledstvo-na-ruskite-arhitekti-kaj-nas/ TiRekovMiReče. (2017, December 23). Retrieved December 2024, from http://www.tirekovmirece.com/Novost/Куќата-на-Шукара%2C-работена-по-нацрт-на-руски-мигрант