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During the years before World War I, in keeping with the general trend of European architectural development, Hoffmann turned increasingly towards classicism and the vernacular in his formal language, although he never directly copied classical or neo-classical forms; rather he modified them in various ways, often by denying their tectonic significance. Examples of this were several private residences, such as the sumptuous Ast house (1909-11) at the Hohe Warte, the Bernatzik house (1912-13) in Vienna, the Kaasgraben estate (1912-13), and the large Skywa-Primavesi house (1913-15), Gloriettegasse, Vienna.
Set in ample grounds, enriched with sculptures by Anton Hanak, and extremely generous in its dimensions and appointments, the Skywa-Primavesi house was the last of its kind. After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the social stratum from which the clients for such houses came ceased to exist. Only the Knips house (1919-24) recalls remotely the style of life embodied in the pre-war houses.
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