Vul. Vynnychenka, 10 – residential building

Background and formation of the plot

In the late 18^th century there were wooden buildings around. The plot of the contemporary building no. 10 was created in early 19^th century, separated out of a larger one (conscription no. 75 in Brody Quarter). It was assigned a conscription no. 96 4/4 then, which stayed till 1939.

The existing house was built in the 1810s-1820s; 1828 map so far is the first document to mark it. Its architect(s) and customer(s) are unknown. By that time there was already a building belonging to the Pillers, the famous family of printers (now vul. Lychakivska, 8). Approximately at the same time the neighboring townhouse on vul. Vynnychenka,12 was erected.

Against the noise of smithy and metal workshops

The earliest building documents date from 1852 (DALO 2/2/3451). The property was then owned by countess Agnes (Agnieszka) Ponińska (DALO 2/2/3451:5,16). At that time, Heinrich and Wilhelm Arend, blacksmiths, planned to build a wing with a smithy there. They were referred to as Kunstschlossermeister, which probably meant that they made artistic forged fences and similar products. After receiving several denials from the Magistrate, Heinrich Arendt wrote numerous appeals. The city and provincial authorities cited the proximity of the Governor's palace

and the Provincial Dicastery as the reason for their denials. The former neighbored the house from the north, and the latter from the south (vul. Lychakivska, 8). A permanently working smithery would interfere with the officials' work. Thus no workshop appeared here.

Pharmacy "Pod cesarzem rzymskim Tytusem"

Teodor (Ger. Theodor) Torosiewicz purchased the house in 1854. He was a well-known pharmacist and balneologist of Armenian descent from Stanislawów (present-day Ivano-Frankivsk). He kept a pharmacy here on the ground floor, called Pod cesarzem rzymskim Tytusem (Under the Roman Emperor Titus) which had been founded in 1819.

In 1856 the building was reconstructed and the wings were extended. The project was designed by Wilhelm Schmid, a Lviv builder master (DALO 2/2/3451:60, 61). According to the project, the wide passage to the courtyard in the center of the building was removed; an entrance on the right edge was arranged instead, as it is today. The stairs were remade accordingly. The right wing (wooden) and old toilets were dismantled. The planned addition of the fourth floor the Magistrate forbade.

On 23 January 1863 the townhouse was inspected by the commissariat of the Łyczakowski district (4/4), which confirmed its good condition, except for the front door frame, which had come off slightly; this was to be repaired (DALO 2/2/3451:26).

After Torosiewicz died in 1876, his wife Józefa became in charge of the house and the pharmacy. Soon it was the pharmacist Andrzej Kochanowski who became its owner. He was apublic figure, a member of the Lviv City Council. He commissioned Adolf Kuhn, a Lviv architect, to designe its reconstruction in 1889. The townhouse was rebuilt thus in a opulent style influenced by French 17^th century architecture. The mansard floor was converted into a full-fledged fourth floor. The building works were completed in December 1890 (DALO 2/2/3451:35).

In 1893 Kochanowski died, and for almost two years the pharmacy and the townhouse were managed by his widow Róża, whose deputy in the pharmacy was Jan Lisowski, a master of pharmacy, who previously worked in another drugstore (Kurjer Lwowski, 1893, n. 193, 3). He soom took up a position at the General Provincial Hospital pharmacy.

Pharmacy moves

In 1895, Antoni Ehrbar became the pharmacy's owner. Rapid growth of the city's population and space  led the city council to consider providing each district with a pharmacy, as existing ones were not sufficient. The opening of a new pharmacy in Łyczaków was discussed. It is likely, that these circumstances affected the pharmacy which moved to Lychakivska, 3 in 1903.

Before Ehrbar there were few intermittent owners of this building. Jadwiga Steczkowska who acquired it sometime after Kochanowski's death, sold it in 1898. Zdzisław Podgórski, a mining commissioner, bought it for 18,000 crowns shortly before his retirement. His wife Zofia Podgórska, née Bogdanowicz, and probably his daughter Kazimiera Sawicka were his co-owners. In 1900, Podgórski had the pharmacy shopwindows replaced, a project was designed by Jan Lewiński; carpentry works were done by Franciszek Tenerowicz. In his request to the Magistrate for permission to repair, Podgórski stated that the old shopwindows were already 50 years old and in a poor condition, which endangered the pharmacy with possible robbery (DALO 2/2/3451:37).

In 1902-1904 an exchange of letters between the Magistrate and the owners concerning the townhouse sewage reconstruction continued, the owners disagreed with the Magistrate's decision and appealed to a higher authority, which was the Provincial Department (DALO 2/2/3451:41-51).

In 1916 the townhouse was owned by Nuchim Simche Bombach, an entrepreneur, and in 1935, by Gillel and Giselle Grünfeld. Most of the ground floor premises were occupied by shops. In 1934 a minor renovation of the premises was carried out under a project designed by Władysław Wilkon, a builder master.

Today, the house has undergone redevelopment and destruction, its roof has been replaced and forged roof railings have been lost. This building is not a monument of architecture.