The flat of Prime Minister Augustinas Voldemaras also had a ballroom. The interior of the ballroom, as well as the whole building, is one of few authentic interwar period interiors to survive to this day. The furniture pieces in this room are included in the Cultural Heritage Register protected by the state.
There is even a small balcony for the orchestra to play live music. Musicians would get to it up a narrow staircase situated at the flat’s hallway.
The ceiling of the elegant ballroom features a panneau depicting a romanticized view of Vilnius, in which the Gediminas Castle Tower is the focal piece. In 1920 Vilnius was occupied by Poland, and the capital was moved to Kaunas, which was often called the “temporary capital”. Yet, the belief that Vilnius is the true capital and will soon be reinstated as such still persisted. That is the reason why various fragments of Vilnius can be seen in many cultural objects and public buildings.
The ballroom is adorned by a framed mirror with a console table, as well as an authentic chandelier. The furniture pieces are authentic, some of them were made in Kostas Petrikas’ furniture factory in Kaunas. At the back wall, there is a three-door dresser with a marble top and a painting from the second half of the 19th century by an unknown author, titled “the Hunting Scene”.
One of the key pieces of the ballroom is an authentic Empire style furniture set. This furniture set was purchased and brought by Augustinas Voldemaras himself from Soubrier, an antique furniture salon still open in Paris. The Empire style furniture set consists of a hexagon redwood veneer table with a polished marble top and six ivory armchairs upholstered in gold coloured tapestry. Especially exceptional are the gilded front legs – stylised animal paws on the bottom and winged heads of Egyptian goddesses on the top. Perhaps this luxurious French card table was purchased because of Augustinas Voldemaras’ sentiments for France – after all, his great-grandfather was a Warsaw nobleman of French origin, who stayed in Švenčionys County during the Napoleonic campaign and married a Lithuanian woman.
