The Interwar Villa of Antonis Kiakszto

On the expressive slope of Tauras Hill, this villa harmoniously blends into the urban landscape. Its sensitivity to the natural and urban environment, as well as its attention to detail, reveals the high quality of interwar modernist architecture in Vilnius.

The interplay of geometric forms and simple, constructive shapes reflects the prevailing view of the interwar period that a building should primarily serve its purpose and people.

Originally designed as a private residence, the villa belonged to Antoni Kiakszt, the commandant of the Antakalnis military hospital, before the war. From 1939 to 1941, the renowned Polish writer Leopold Tyrmand rented a room here. In 1946, the Soviet authorities granted an apartment in this house to the writer Antanas Venclova. His son, Tomas Venclova, one of the most prominent Lithuanian poets, translators, and literary scholars of our time, grew up here.

The house preserves a rich interior heritage, including Art Deco furniture created by a legendary Lithuanian designer Jonas Prapuolenis. The museum’s collection also includes over thirteen thousand exhibits spanning the 20th and 21st centuries, documenting the literary, everyday, and political history of the time and providing insights into life in the villa.