The corner of Karoliny Světlé Street and Smetanovo Nábřeží is completely dominated by a stately house at No. 329, which was built in the style of the Dutch Renaissance. The house was called Bellevue (beautiful view) in deference to its location. The property was built in 1893-1897 by the architect and builder Konstantin Mráček and replaced earlier buildings, from which nothing was preserved. Initially the house project was criticised mainly because the height of its five-floor wing to Smetanovo Nábřeží obscured the view from neighbouring houses on the south side.
Bellevue House is however appreciated today as one of the most interesting of Prague houses. You should consider that one of its ateliers on the highest floor of the north wing was once used by the famous Austrian painter Oskar Kokoshka, who due to his staunch antifascist beliefs was forced to leave Prague at the end of summer in 1934.
The house is clearly visible from Charles Bridge. The observer can particularly appreciate its north-west corner with its mighty four-floor prismatic tower. Some of its features are of neo-renaissance style, sectional rectangular windows, bossage and especially the tall window bay located on the tower corner and which covers almost 2/3 of the tower's height. The bay has a cylindrical shape and is polygonal at its highest part and then finished off with a conical roof. The tower has a gallery with a stoned fence (well it is high!). The roof is a simple pyramid shape.
