The Library in the Petschek Villa is the last room on left hand side of the Winter Garden as we enter on the ground floor. The construction of the villa is dated back to the 1920s. The Library thus seems to have retained the interiors from the original construction. The Library in Villa Petschek is one of the important rooms in the Villa due to its location. Although the room is mainly used as a library and houses many books original to Otto Petschek, it is also the place where the Ambassador has administrative meetings and some formal discussions with important visitors to the Ambassador’s Residence.
The Library is a baroque-inspired room with wooden panels on the walls. It is located at the far end of the Villa on the main floor and has one wall full of windows that let in natural light. Originally the Library opened out to the garden through a door, but currently it is closed and covered with steel bars for security reasons. The library has two entrances, one from the gallery and one from the men’s salon (Red Room) which can be accessed from the Winter Garden. Currently, the main entrance is through the gallery. An interesting aspect about the main entrance is that, from the gallery, the entrance looks like a mirrored double-paneled door, but it actually has only one door. To abide with the symmetry that has been followed throughout the house, a false wooden door was planned. However, the interior of this door opens into the Library as a single paneled wooden door.
The interiors of the Library are very well lit with natural and artificial lighting. The facade facing the garden is provided with very large windows stretching from floor to ceiling height. This allows an ample amount of daylight required for reading. Apart from the natural light, there are small chandeliers in the room and a few lamps along the walls which cast a warm light that enhances the color of the wood, giving the whole room a reddish/brown hue. The fabric of the curtain covering the windows is a high quality floral print which adds to the richness of the room.
Another important feature that is original to the room is the marble fireplace. The fireplace is on the wall opposite the wall with the windows. The pink marble fireplace is the center of attention in the room and is often decorated according to the seasons or the events happening at the Villa. The stone of the fireplace has a few visible cracks and thus indicates that some parts of it might have been restored in recent years. The top of the fireplace features flower and garland carvings whereas the legs of the fireplace show a different variety of flower carvings. These carvings are repeated successively in the shape of letter ‘S’ throughout the legs of the fireplace. Above the fireplace is a mirror that extends up to the ceiling; this feature helps reflect the natural light from the windows onto the opposite wall making the room brighter. The top of this mirror has a decorative wooden and bronze molding. At the end of the mirror near the ceiling is an intricately carved wooden frame with a polished bronze clock in the center. In front of the fireplace there are robust and heavy bronze fire-dogs. This bronze piece has a king-face molding with lion legs. All the metal-work in the room, including the door knobs and light fixtures, are made from this same bronze.
The interiors of this room are entirely constructed out of oak wood. The other woodwork apart from the massive doors include the book-shelves. Each bookshelf is decorated with intricate wood carvings. These wooden carvings are replicated in each strip of wood in between the wooden bookshelves. The carvings resemble an elliptical flower in the center and leaf-like carvings in an oval shape around this flower.
The furniture pieces, at least those original to the room, are of wood with brown leather fabric. Some chairs seem to have been retained from the original furniture while others are replicas of the original pieces. Since the entire room is of a warmer hue, the carpet which has a slightly cooler hue, like whites and blue with a little bit of reds and browns, compliments the room very well. The couch is of a blue color fabric which helps balance out the warm hue while matching with many other elements in the room. This color palette indicates that the traditional furniture blends with the wooden room and the modern furniture is in contrast with the color theme and architectural style of the room.
In recent years, the Library has undergone a few changes and rehabilitation efforts. Even though no drastic change has been made to the room, the sofa has gone through a few revisions. The couches and center table are made in a modernist style and have little to no ornamentation.
In contrast, the wooden chairs original to the room have gold colored metal circles in them and so the new contemporary sofa has also been customized by adding metal details to help blend it with the existing furniture in the room. This room is one of the unique rooms in the Villa with its combination of contemporary and traditional furniture.
