The leading Romanian art auction house Artmark will launch at the end of January a real estate division, Artmark Historical Estate, which will auction some of Romania’s most famous historical buildings, such as the Teleki Castle, the Pogani Castle and the Cula Greceanu fortified house.

Artmark thus tries to expand its portfolio on the model of international auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s, which both have specialized divisions for luxury and historical real estate.

Artmark Historical Estate’s portfolio includes class A historical monuments, which are considered of national and universal importance, such as the Teleki Castle, the Pogani Castle and the Cula Greceanu fortified house, as well as class B monuments, of local importance, such as the Ion Mihalache memorial house, the Niculescu-Bujoiu mansion and the Zottu house.

The Teleki Castle, which is located in the Dumbravioara village, in Mures county, used to belong to one of Transylvania’s richest noble families, in the XVIII and XIX centuries. The castle was renowned for its British style dendrological park, as well as for its pound and equestrian grounds. One of its most famous guests was Britain’s King Edward the VII. The castle has the potential to be developed as a hunting estate or as a historical touristic complex, according to Artmark.

Cula Greceanu is another important piece of Romanian architecture featured in Artmark’s portfolio. It is one of the oldest fortified houses in Romania, located in Maldaresti village, in Valcea county. Local nobles built the fortified houses in Romania’s Oltenia region as residences as well as defence against the Ottoman invasions.

Artmark’s real estate portfolio also features unclassified residences, such as late Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s villa in Predeal. The villa, built in 1927, was Ceausescu’s first residence in Predeal, starting the 1950s, when he was not yet Romania’s President.

See below a photo gallery of some of the most famous historical buildings in Romania, which are now in Artmark's portfolio:

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Artmark)