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Video: Secrets of a fairy tale house in the center of Moscow: Why did the architect drown his paintings here, and Trotsky took the owner's apartment
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The building of incredible beauty, similar to a teremok, is popularly called "Pertsova's Apartment House" or "House-Fairy Tale". "Terem" is located in the center of Moscow. Everything is unique in this masterpiece: the authors, the owners, the tenants, and, of course, the architecture itself. You can admire the high narrow roofs and majolica of this amazing building for hours. In general, this is a house-story, every centimeter of which has incredible value.
House-fairy
A traveling engineer who made a great contribution to the construction of the country's first railways, Petr Pertsov acquired this site at the beginning of the last century on the advice of his good friend, patron of the arts Ivan Tsvetkov. The location was very good - overlooking the Moskva River and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Pertsov promised Tsvetkov that he would decorate the future building in the old Russian style. From a young age, carried away by painting and having a delicate artistic taste, he decided to embody this idea with all his love for Russian art and on a large scale, since financial opportunities allowed it.
Pyotr Nikolaevich decided to officially formalize the site and the house for his wife, since his projects related to the construction of railways were risky at that time, and he did not want to lose all his property in case of ruin. By the way, looking ahead, it should be said that this beautiful house of the Pertsov in the end still almost lost. During the construction of a section of the Armavir-Tuapse railway, he could not collect the necessary amount and asked for financial assistance from the famous industrialist Alexei Putilov. He gave two million on the security of all the property of the Pertsov family, including this building. However, the engineer valued his new home so much that he bought it out very soon.
Returning to the project itself, it is worth noting that the sketch of the artist-architect Sergei Malyutin was taken as a basis, which Pertsov chose from many different options.
Malyutin was a multifaceted person. He taught at the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, worked as an illustrator (for example, he designed Pushkin's fairy tales), and it is also believed that it was he who painted the first Russian nesting doll.
The house was not built from scratch: a fourth floor was added to the three-storey box building already on the site, a mansion was added from the side of the embankment, and a new building from the side street. All this was completed by high triangular roofs, a balcony and all kinds of decorative elements. Rich, motley majolica decorated the main entrance, as well as the walls and gables. The project successfully combined modernity and the traditions of Russian architecture. As a result, the house turned out to be very original and beautiful - “in a fabulous epic style,” as Pertsov himself put it.
Majolica was created by Stroganov students. Here you can see the image of the Slavic-pagan sun god Yarila, and the deities Veles and Perun, depicted in the guise of the Bear and the Bull, and the Prophetic Bird (also a well-known ancient Russian character), and many other interesting creatures. And the balcony, built in the form of a hut, is supported by either crocodiles, or dragons, or seahorses.
The house was equipped with many apartments for rent, and the choice was for every taste - depending on the financial capabilities of the tenant. Pertsov himself settled here, occupying three floors, and his apartment had its own hotel entrance.
The interior decoration of the premises was striking in its beauty and sophistication. Tiled stoves, carvings, oriental smoking rooms, mahogany furniture …
People and destinies
The author of the project, Malyutin, also settled here. Here he painted his paintings. Unfortunately, during the flood of 1908, his apartment was flooded and most of the talented artist's canvases suffered - including the painting "Kulikovo Field", which he painted for almost 10 years. Well, his wife, trying to save property and paintings during the flood, caught a cold and soon died. In general, the "fabulous" house did not bring happiness to its creator.
Another basement apartment in the building was occupied by the Bat cabaret theater. It was a cult and famous place for those times, in which all the Moscow theater bohemia of the beginning of the last century gathered. According to rumors, its owners, actor-director Nikita Baliev and oil industrialist Nikolai Tarasov, gave such a spectacular name to the institution for a reason. When they first descended into the basement, a bat flew out to meet them.
Kachalov, Knipper-Chekhova, Stanislavsky, Nemirovich-Danchenko performed at the theater. The Bat performances were famous for their funny parodies and complete freedom of self-expression. According to the rule established in the cabaret, none of those present should be offended by anyone. Subsequently, after the theater was closed here, Pertsov added a basement to his three-story apartment, since he lived just above it.
Another famous creative community is also connected with this interesting house: after the revolution, members of the avant-garde artists association “Jack of Diamonds” lived in the “house” - for example, Alexander Kuprin (namesake of the famous writer), Pyotr Konchalovsky, Vasily Rozhdestvensky. These young and daring painters have set new rules for themselves, experimenting boldly and deviating from academic norms. At the beginning of the last century, the "Diamonds" were considered rebellious artists, and now they are recognized as classics of the avant-garde.
If we talk about the fate of the house in the post-revolutionary years, it is imperative to mention Leon Trotsky. After the building was nationalized, he first moved into the apartment of one of the former residents - Pozdnyakov (who, according to rumors, kept a black servant at home, and in one of the rooms he had a winter garden with real living trees). After a while, Trotsky moved to a larger apartment, namely, to the former apartments of the Pertsov family. He appropriated the belongings of the former owners, and arranged official receptions for foreign guests in luxurious rooms.
The very same Peter Pertsov with the advent of Soviet power befell a dramatic fate. At the time of the revolution, he was part of the group of custodians of the values of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and when in the early 1920s a large-scale campaign was launched in the country to seize and liquidate church property, Pertsov openly opposed it. Together with other active opponents of such seizures - priests, scientists, representatives of the intelligentsia - he became a defendant in the trial of the "churchmen", during which more than a hundred people were convicted.
Fortunately, an amnesty saved him from being shot - in connection with the anniversary of the revolution, the death penalty was replaced by imprisonment. A few months later, the former homeowner was released. The remaining years he lived in a communal apartment, and for some reason his talent and experience as an outstanding engineer was not needed by the Soviet authorities.
Keeps its old stories and the memory of great people and the famous Moscow House-chest of drawers.
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