The Damian Drăgănescu House (Casa Damian Drăgănescu) is a historic Neo-Romanian residence in Galați, built in the early 20th century for merchant Damian Drăgănescu Jr. Its large scale and decorative design reflect the prosperity of the city’s commercial elite during the years around World War I.
Damian Drăgănescu Jr. bought the property in 1915 and began construction the following year. Work continued until 1923, creating a three-level residence with reception rooms, service spaces, private family rooms, and an attic floor. Drăgănescu died in the same year the house was completed, leaving the property to his wife Cecilia.
The residence was designed in the Neo-Romanian style, with a steep roof, projecting balconies, arched openings, carved details, and decorative elements drawn from Romanian architectural traditions. Its vertical composition and varied roofline give the house a markedly different appearance from the more restrained Neoclassical residences found elsewhere along Strada Domnească.
Drăgănescu had wanted the house eventually to serve a cultural or charitable purpose, and in 1924 it was even considered as a possible home for the V.A. Urechia Library. In 1947, Cecilia Drăgănescu formally left the property to the Covurlui County Chamber of Agriculture in exchange for a lifelong pension, but the institution was dissolved the following year under the communist regime.
The house subsequently accommodated the Agricultural Directorate until 1970, followed by the city’s road transport enterprise. After 1990, ownership passed to the Sidex steelworks company.
