The story of Casa Vernescu begins almost two centuries ago and like all good stories involves love and tragedy. Casa Vernescu was originally built in 1821 by Filip Lens, the son of a French nobleman from Marseilles. The palace was a wedding present to his Romanian fiancé Lisaveta Balotescu-Carpinisanu. The building was severely damaged by fire just a year later.

Lens completely renovated the palace transforming it into the most beautiful building in Bucharest at that time. Lens died at beginning of the Crimean War, in 1853. During the war his house was used as the headquarters of the Military Collage, the Ministry of War and eventually the Russian Army Headquarters. It was during this time that Lev Tolstoy visited the house.

In 1882 fire struck once again and the house had to be rebuilt. In 1886 it was sold to lawyer, liberal politician and art connaisseur Gheorghe Dimitrie Vernescu (also known as Guna Vernescu) from where it would get its now famous name.

Vernescu set about making the house even more impressive. In this respect, he commissioned the great architect Ion Mincu. Between 1887 and 1889 Mincu improved and renovated the villa. In 1890 his stunning work with gold inlaid ceilings, marble and stained glass was further complemented by the murals and paintings of George Demetrescu Mirea. Upon completion the house was once again one of the beautiful in the city and one of the most popular. It became the meeting place for the rich and famous, hosting grand balls and parties. Despite the villa’s beauty, elegance, style and fame, due to financial reasons, Vernescu was forced to sell it to the state.

Until 1944, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and even the Romanian Government had functioned here. In 1944 Lens-Vernescu House was taken by the Red Army, who destroyed most of wall-paintings. Immediately after 1945, the building was taken by Groza Government. Until 1990, this place had been a protocol house for some ministries and in 1990 became the headquarters of Writers' Union of Romania.

In 1993, the building is fully remade and modernized to host today multiple choices of entertainment such as the well known Casino Palace Bucharest and Casa Vernescu Restaurant.

Dignified and full of mystery, Casa Vernescu resisted to the time challenges, remaining on Podul Mogosoaiei street, today Calea Victoriei, a reference point of Bucharest life then and now.