The Villa Marie, a house with a long history

In 1876, master builder Leopold Stoizer took the decision to build a summer retreat for his family in Purkersdorf near Vienna. As was common at the time, the route of the new Westbahn was the first address for the suburbanites of the first hour.

The family found peace and quiet on the outskirts of the city and could reach this accommodation by train. On weekends, the master of the house would join friends and spend a relaxed, fun-filled weekend in the country. Like pearls on a necklace, these villas were located along the Westbahn and some of them can still be found today. Villa Marie is one of those summer resorts. Originally, a bowling alley was built on the north side of the house, where a studio is located today. A “Lusthaus”, which invited people to play cards, was located on the site of the current composting area.

The completion of Villa Marie.

One year after completion, in 1878, the west-facing winter garden was added. The houses Karlgasse 12 and 13 in Purkersdorf were built at the same time with almost identical architectural elements.

Several owners changed the house in the 1930s until it was acquired by the architect Ernst Kirsch, who also made his home on the Belle Etage, the second floor of the house. Ernst Kirsch was born in Katharinenberg in Bohemia on December 8, 1888 and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts as an architect. From 1937 he was the director of the Vocational School for Building Trades in Vienna.

The Villa Marie, under Franz Dinda

In 1972 Mr. Franz Dinda bought the house, but did not live here himself, but came daily from Floridsdorf to personally implement the renovation and expansion of the house. As a trained carpenter, it was possible for him to make fundamental changes to the house. Thus, the bowling alley became an enclosed room, on which another porch was then built. The windows were inserted from the west side veranda. In the second floor of the west porch Franz Dinda installed box windows. The south-facing apartment extension was built on top of the existing ground-floor porch, and the attic was given three terraces. Part of the garden with its terraces was also created by Franz Dinda. Other parties had already moved into this house. In the 1920s, the Tölsner family with four children moved into the present apartment. Mrs. Gusti Tölsner, after reducing the apartment by the veranda and the room behind it, stayed until 1992, when she moved to a retirement home due to her age.

The Wächter family moved into the north-facing apartment after World War II. They left the house after the two children Renate and Andreas had grown up and Mrs. Wächter had fallen victim to a pulmonary embolism in 1991.

Villa Marie in the present

In 1987, the Dickmanns family bought Villa Marie together with a couple who were friends. Together they endeavored to successively restore the original condition. The concept is: to preserve the existing building fabric as much as possible, but to accommodate modern use. On the second floor, different floor levels were leveled, and a plank floor gave way to parquet flooring. The sanitary facilities and electrical and heating installations were rebuilt and brought up to the latest state of the art. The main entrance was reactivated and the entrance gate was restored. Mr. Dinda had created a new entrance, still recognizable by the small bridge. The paths and terraces were redesigned and covered with paving stones, thus preserving the characteristic charm of the villa in the Vienna Woods.

In 1997, the former laundry room and caretaker’s apartment, which had been built as an annex, were converted. A workshop, a glass house and a tool room were created. At the same time, the former apartment of the Wächter family was completely renovated.

Due to the divorce of our co-owners, their 50% share was sold. The Dickmanns family bought the former apartment of Mrs. Tölsner and a bachelor bought the converted attic. From 2001 to 2003, the first floor apartment was then converted into a vacation home. The porch had our special attention and was carefully revitalized and renovated. Solnhofen tiles were laid and the wooden structure was renovated.

Due to marriage and offspring, the attic apartment became too small and thus sold to us in 2006, so we adapted it as a vacation apartment. The result is a spacious penthouse with 100 square meters, which allows an excellent view of the Vienna Woods on the three terraces.

The four stars of Villa Marie were extended in April 2008 and guarantee the high quality of the vacation apartment in Purkersdorf.