Seven buildings claiming to be the "House of Bulgakov Margarita": Gothic mansion in a quiet side street

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Many fans of the novel "The Master and Margarita" have been arguing for years about which of the Moscow mansions could become the prototype of the house of the protagonist. It would seem that it is not difficult to find it. It follows from the novel that this is a Gothic mansion located not far from the Arbat, in side streets, and having a beautiful garden with a metal lattice fence. Bulgakov notes that Margarita occupied "all five rooms of the upper floor" in the house, and there were two floors in total. There is also a mention of a three-leaf window drawn by a curtain. However, everything is not so simple …

Apparently, there are no buildings that fully meet all these parameters in Moscow (otherwise there would be no such heated debates), however, the author did not have to describe a specific house exactly in the novel. Perhaps he imagined a real building and added more characteristic details to this picture. But what kind of mansion could still be the prototype of Margarita's house? Fans of the famous novel put forward completely different versions, and at the moment there are several contenders.

1. House in Maly Vlasyevsky

This building, although it is made in the Art Nouveau style and has many interesting architectural elements, is not very similar to the "Gothic mansion" mentioned in the novel. However, it has several characteristic details - it is located in an alley near the Arbat, it has a garden and a metal fence, which, by the way, has been preserved in its original form. The famous flight of Margarita described by Bulgakov also speaks in favor of this version: if we compare this path with the location of this house, then many details coincide.

By the way, the history of the building is interesting. Before the revolution it was owned by the merchant Ivan Korovin, then the Institute of Rhythm was located in the mansion, and there is evidence that Isadora Duncan herself repeatedly danced there (her studio was nearby, on Prechistenka). It is now a private residential residence.

2. House of Soloviev

The corner of Khlebny and Maly Rzhevsky lanes is decorated with a magnificent Gothic building, which was built for himself by the academician of architecture Sergei Soloviev at the beginning of the last century.

The house with arched windows, stucco, wrought iron decor and ceramic panels in antique style could well be the prototype of Margarita's dwelling, and its characteristic three-part window, according to the supporters of this version, is exactly the window from which the heroine of the novel flew out on a broomstick.

After the death of Solovyov, the owner of the building became the graphic artist Pavel Pavlinov, who in the early years of the revolution was one of the initiators of exhibitions of paintings in this house, later it housed a representative office of the Georgian Republic. By the way, the house was "lit up" in the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring" - it was in it that the Gestapo was supposedly located, where the radio operator Kat was kept.

3. Gothic "castle" Kekushev

This mansion, located on Ostozhenka, is considered one of the main contenders for the title of "House of Margarita". The building resembles a medieval castle and its whole appearance is very unusual - it is asymmetrical, filled with all sorts of interesting details, with a high hipped turret and a huge metal lion on a gable.

In addition, there is an interesting story connected with the house. Architect Lev Kekushev built it for himself and his family. So it is known that the daughter of the architect, against the will of her parents, left home and settled with her lover - the artist Sergei Topleninov - in Mansurovsky Lane. And in Bulgakov's novel, it was in this alley that the Master lived.

However, there are also discrepancies with Margarita's house. According to the description, her mansion was much smaller and lower than the house of Kekushev, moreover, he, we recall, had a garden with a fence and he stood in Arbat lane, and not on Ostozhenka.

Read also: Mansions-masterpieces by Lev Kekushev.

4. House of Ryabushinsky (Gorky Museum)

The famous and incredibly extravagant Moscow mansion, built by the architect Fyodor Shekhtel for the merchant Ryabushinsky, and after the revolution became the house of Maxim Gorky, could well have been taken by Bulgakov as a basis for describing Margarita's house.

This building has Gothic elements, it is surrounded by a wrought-iron fence, but it does not have a three-winged window, like the one mentioned in the novel, and it is too luxurious for an ordinary engineer to live in it and occupy an entire floor. And, again, Malaya Nikitskaya Street, on which the mansion is located, has nothing to do with Arbat lanes.

5. Mansion of Savva Morozov

A very romantic story is connected with the appearance of this mansion on Spiridonovka: a millionaire merchant built it for his beloved wife. However, the house experienced a dramatic break in their relationship, as well as the financial and psychological crisis of Savva Morozov.

This house was designed by the architect Fyodor Shekhtel in the English neo-Gothic style, it is surrounded by an elegant cast-iron fence, and on the territory, as described in the novel, there is a garden. Isn't it Margarita's mansion? However, like the Ryabushinsky mansion, it is too large in comparison with the supposed dwelling of the heroine. But by the standards of the chic merchant houses of that time, he, on the contrary, is modest - after all, buildings in Moscow met much more pompous and shocking.

Read more about the Morozovs' castle-mansion can be read here.

6. Apartment building in Chisty Lane

This is a Moscow building known as the Profitable House of N. P. Tsirkunov, made in the style of pseudo-Gothic with elements of modernity. It could well become the prototype of Margarita's mansion, especially since it was here that Mikhail Bulgakov at one time lived with his wife (however, the wing in which their apartment was located has not survived to this day). By the way, "Days of the Turbins" was written in this house, and Professor Bulgakov Preobrazhensky lived in Chisty (Obukhov) Lane. In other words, the work of the writer was closely associated with this place.

However, there is also a contradiction: the writer lived here with his second wife, Lyubov Belozerskaya, and most Bulgakov scholars are inclined to believe that he wrote Margarita not from her, but from his third wife, Elena Shilovskaya. In addition, the building in Chisty Lane has five floors.

7. Derozhinskaya mansion

The house of the owner of a textile enterprise and daughter of the merchant Butikov Alexandra Derozhinskaya is also considered a possible prototype of Margarita's mansion. It is located in a rather quiet Kropotkinsky Lane, it has a garden and a metal fence. But at the same time, there are facts that speak not in favor of this version. Firstly, the building of Derozhinskaya is still more appropriate to refer to Art Nouveau than to Gothic. Secondly, it is, again, too large.

By the way, the mansion has a very rich history. After he was nationalized by the Soviet authorities, he constantly changed hands, replacing many organizations. And since 1959 it houses the Australian Embassy.

And in continuation of the theme, the story of as the St. Petersburg house of the merchant Polezhaev is connected in Woland.