Phase 1: 1677
Building the manor house is associated with the name of the builder Nikola Draškovič, who acquired the property in Čachtice by marrying the Countess Barbora Drugeth, which also brought a later name of the manor house as Draškovič or Drugeth.
The oldest construction, identified by the research of the building, is the entire two-storey south wing, including its basement. The basement was built as a single tract, under the northern overhead tract, accessible by two entrances: from the south and the north side. The above-ground part was built as a two-storey and two-tract part on both floors, with a two-storey southern avant-corps in the centre of the construction.
Phase 2: 1710 - 1717
It is associated with the name of Paul Forgách, who gradually acquired estates from the Draskovič and Drugeth families. He acquired the manor house as part of an exchange of estates in 1710 and had a chapel built there. Dating this phase is determined by the acquisition of estates in 1710 and the inscription from the stipes of the chapel’s altar dating back to 1717.
The second building phase dates back to building the northwest wing. It was also built as a two-storey wing connected to the south wing on both floors. It was built on a rectangular floor plan at north end, extended in western direction. According to the files of the restoration in the 1950s, there was a chapel in this wing, but it is not known on which floor. Today, the wing is also accessible from the exterior by a separate modern staircase. Within this phase, it is believed that the Virgin Mary statue was erected on the southern facade, under which the sundial was painted.
Phase 3: 1953 - 1959
Source: Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic Archive, Bratislava, no. of the negative 574/1, author Podhorský.
It is a building phase that determined the present character of the building, the so-called adaptation of the manor house carried out in the 1950s. On one hand, this construction phase prevented the imminent destruction of the cultural monument and at the same time transformed the manor house as we know it today.
In 1953, it was decided to adapt the manor house. Based on inspections of the Monuments Board in Bratislava (June and July 1953), it was stated that "the building is in a desolate state, but it is worth the complete overhaul". The emergency state was constantly deteriorating as a result of poor maintenance and also inappropriate use. The first floor of the building served as a grain warehouse, which by its weight disrupted the arches, in which visible cracks were formed. This situation was also dangerous because it threatened lives of tenants living on the ground floor of the manor house (40 people). The planned future use of the building was as follows: the first floor was to be used as a theatre, a reading room and a library. On the ground floor, the premises of the manor house were to serve for the Czechoslovak Youth Union and Sokol, a counselling room for mothers and a medical ambulance. In the second half of the ground floor, the apartment of the caretaker was proposed.
With a lack of design capacities of the then STAVOPROJEKT–R studio, the dipl. architect Jaroslav Pelan from the cooperative "TVAR" was entrusted with the design of the project documentation in November 1953. The district construction company in Nové Mesto nad Váhom was appointed as the contractor.
At the same time, a rough building works estimate was set at about 1 400 000,- Kčs (the
Czechoslovak koruna). The plan of the building’s „adaptation“ was structured into three
phases. In 1953, the building was to acquire a new roof cover, timber roofing and structural
stability works.
In 1954, the first floor was to be modified together with the construction of a
new wing. In 1955, the ground floor was to be adapted together with the modification of the
manor house’s surroundings.
The start of the construction works depended on removing grain from the first floor of the building. The Local National Committee Čachtice was to build eight housing units for families who would have to move out of the manor house by the end of 1954 at the latest. As was later shown, both of these conditions were an obstacle to the timely start of the construction works. Their moving-out and a lack of material as well as labour in the 1950s caused that the restoration eventually took almost 7 years.
Other photos from Phase 3
Phase 4: 1965
Building works in the 1960s were triggered by inserting a new function into the building, namely opening a restaurant. In 1964, the manor house was sold to Jednota despite the opposition of the Local National Committee. The Monuments Board also repeatedly disagreed with this function, due to the fact that in the 1950s, the building was restored for cultural and social purposes in the first place. There was also a memorial room in the building. In 1965, the Museum of Trenčín applied for the building but was not successful. Hence in September 1965, the building was handed over to Jednota. After that, the biggest intervention was the extension of the basement in a northern direction by four concrete rooms that served the operational purposes of the restaurant. Also, floors were replaced in the building.
It is believed that during the operation of the restaurant in the 1970s, arcade arches were closed and today's steel-glazed fillings were installed. Based on the criteria for monument restoration, these newer modifications are perceived less positively and negatively affect, among other factors, the unsatisfactory humidity conditions of the building.
Author: Mgr. Lucia Pastierková, KPÚ Trenčín