Perticari-Davila Manor, Izvoru

Summary

A manor and park at Izvoru (Argeș County) built in 1905 by General Ion (Jean) Petricari and Elena Davila, where the couple founded a free rural hospital. Now in an advanced state of decay, it is held by the Pro Patrimonio foundation, which plans workshops, educational events and a farm.

Legal status

Nationalised in 1947; later restituted to private owners; donated to the Pro Patrimonio foundation in 2025 ↗

History

Around 1850 the estate belonged to the Petricari boyar family, who later married into the Davila family. General Ion (Jean) Petricari (1851-1919), aide-de-camp to King Carol I until 1885, married Elena Davila in 1887. After retiring in 1902 the couple settled at Izvoru, founded what is described as the first free rural hospital in the Romanian lands and built the present manor in 1905, in a German-inspired style, inside a wooded park laid out from 1904 to plans by the French landscape architect E. Redont. A small guest house stood nearby for friends and members of the royal house, and the couple tutored the future Carol II and Princess Elena. After the general died in 1919, Elena Davila managed the estate and funded a school of arts and crafts, two schools and two kindergartens for the local community. The estate was nationalised in 1947 and served as a collective-farm office and a children's home. A failed, locally led restoration financed with French funds left the buildings consolidated in concrete and later vandalised. The estate was returned to private owners and, according to the Pro Patrimonio foundation, was donated to it in 2025.

Transactions & prices

Listed components

• Conacul mare — ante 1919 (AG-II-m-B-13709.01)
• Conacul mic — sec. XVII, ref. ante 1919 (AG-II-m-B-13709.02)
• Parc — sec. XIX (AG-II-m-B-13709.03)

Sources & links