RESIDENCES |D E L I G HT S staircase leading to the second floor. The large reception room stretches up the full two storeys of the house with a brick fireplace reaching up to the ceiling, emphasizing the height of the room. White walls, curtains and furniture give the room lightness and brightness and a great sense of space. The white decorating scheme provides a gallery-like background for the couple’s extensive art collection, one that fills the main reception room, hallway and dining room with paintings and drawings. Most are Slovak scenes, but a few are striking abstracts as well. “We like art,” he says of his collection. Directly over the fireplace is a colourful photographic art piece of a smiling young woman with a delicately painted face. She's wearing a traditional embroidered headdress. The striking adornments were once worn by young women and taken off the night before their wedding. “These stunning headpieces have now been relegated to grandmas’ attics,” says Droba, noting that the artist has travelled the country collecting and photographing the lovely pieces in dynamic style to highlight their beauty. The photographs were shown in a special exhibition at Ottawa City Hall in May. Much of the family’s personal art collection is made up of Slovak and Slovak-Canadian pieces. Two of the most important pieces are by Emil Purgina, a Bratislava-born artist who settled in Ottawa after the Soviet army invaded his homeland in 1968. He found work at the University in Ottawa and has had many shows across the U.S. and Canada, but had never before been shown in Slovakia. Sponsored by the ambassador, he finally had his first show there in 2016. Two of his pieces hang in the residence’s dining room, alongside two paintings of the square in Bratislava, the hometown of the ambassador and his wife. They will soon be returning there after four years in Ottawa. Previously, they have had postings in Washington and in New York at the UN. The dining room is also home to a stunning collection of Slovak crystal and Daniela’s collection of tiny, traditional cornhusk dolls. Also hanging on the walls are two charming Baffin Island scenes that will be moving overseas along with two soapstone carvings from the Canadian Arctic. The diplomats entertain a lot, they say, often opening their home for charitable events. They can accommodate 12 guests for sit-down dinners and as many as 40 for receptions. For very large events, they diplomat and international canada
The dining room is home to Daniela’s collection of tiny, traditional cornhusk dolls.
This back hallway, which also features original art, leads to the kitchen.
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