Often called Budapest’s loveliest Art Nouveau house: a flowing green-and-gold front on a quiet city street.
At a glance
The Bedő House on Honvéd utca, near the Hungarian Parliament, is one of the purest pieces of Art Nouveau in Budapest. Emil Vidor designed it in 1903 for the art collector Béla Bedő as an apartment house and treated it as a complete work of art, from the curving façade to the fittings inside. It now holds the House of Hungarian Art Nouveau, a museum and café.
Key facts
- Location: Honvéd utca 3, Budapest
- Architect: Emil Vidor
- Built: 1903
- Style: Hungarian Art Nouveau (Secession)
- Today: House of Hungarian Art Nouveau (museum and café)
History
Béla Bedő, a wealthy art lover, wanted an apartment building that would be a statement of the new style, and gave the young Emil Vidor a free hand. Vidor designed it in 1903 in the spirit of the total work of art, controlling every detail.
The house survived the twentieth century and was restored as a private museum of Hungarian Art Nouveau, its ground floor a café and shop, its rooms filled with the furniture and objects of the period.
What you see
The façade flows in soft greens and gilt, its windows framed by curving plant forms and delicate ironwork balconies. There is no historical ornament, only the lines of Art Nouveau. Inside, restored interiors and collected period pieces show the unity Vidor was after, the building and its contents speaking one language.
Practical information
- Open: as a museum and café; closed some weekdays
- Cost: museum admission; café free to enter
- Best for: the façade and the period interiors
- Time needed: 30–45 minutes
Getting there
The house is in the fifth district near the Parliament and Szabadság tér, a short walk from the Kossuth Lajos tér metro station (line 2).
Nearby
- Hungarian Parliament — the great neo-Gothic parliament nearby
- Szabadság tér — the grand square a short walk away
Sources
- Wikipedia — Bedő House
- Magyar Szecesszió Háza / Budapest heritage — building information
- Wikimedia Commons — image source and licence
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