The Macridescu House, located on Cuza-Vodă Street at numbers 4-6, is composed of two building blocks that impress with their special architecture. Both buildings were built in 1892 and cover a total area of 4,773 square meters.
The building located at number 4 on Cuza Vodă Street comprises 22 rooms and three halls, to which several annexes were later added. As for the building at number 6, it has six rooms. In the courtyard of the property there are several old trees, considered natural monuments due to their age.
The Macridescu family occupied an important place among the noble families in Focșani, and this is also reflected in the fact that, on January 25, 1916, King Carol II was received in the building at number 6 during his visit to the city on Milcov. The sovereign was then accompanied by General Doctor Macridescu, the prefect of Putna County at the time, and took part in the oath-taking ceremony by the scouts.
Subsequently, the history of the Macridescu family was marked by a closeness to the legionary movement, a member of which became the godfather of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. The legionary leader's marriage took place in Focșani, in the summer of 1925.
With the establishment of the communist regime and the nationalization of the building, the destination of the building changed successively, hosting a maternity hospital, the Children's Palace and later a kindergarten. In 1972, the building was transferred to the administration of the Ministry of Education.
After the Revolution, the house was not purchased by the city hall, the reason given being the too high price of the property. After the building was returned to the legal heirs — Daniela Raemy Carnabel and Elena Cleopatra Carnabel, who live in Switzerland — it was left in disrepair, becoming a place of refuge for homeless people and stray dogs.
In 2014, the building at Cuza Vodă no. 6 was purchased by businessman Victor Istrate from Focșani, who later sold the building to a local family — the Plăcintă family. At the time of the transaction, Focșani City Hall tried to exercise its right of pre-emption to purchase the property, but negotiations failed due to the price considered excessive, over 200,000 euros. Moreover, the technical expertise requested by both the authorities and the owners showed that only part of the building still had the status of a historical monument, the rest being downgraded due to its advanced state of degradation.
Sursa: justitiecurata.ro
