Tolstoy House

Tolstoy House

The Tolstoy House is a large and well-known apartment building in St. Petersburg, located at 15-17 Rubenstein Street and 54 Fontanka Embankment. The building was designed by Fyodor Lidval[1] in the “Northern Modern” style.

The building was constructed in 1910-1912 under the aegis of Major-General Count Mikhail Pavlovich Tolstoy,[2] nephew of the 1812 war hero P. A. Tolstoy. After Tolstoy's death in 1913, ownership devolved to his widow Countess Olga Tolstoy (born a princess of the Vasilchikov family, daughter of Prince Alexander Illarionovich Vasilchikov, a second in the famous 1841 duel between Mikhail Lermontov and Nikolai Martynov).[3]

Architecture

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Tolstoy House, Fontanka Embankment view

The building design shows elements typical of the creative work of Fydor Lidval: high Renaissance arches, balconies on the upper floors, restraint and refinement of decorative elements, respect for comfort, and an eye for natural lighting.

From the first, the building was provided with a laundry, plumbing, and elevators. The structure was conceived as a home for all classes, with apartments for people of all incomes, from modest to luxurious.

The complex layout of the building includes a sequence of three connected arched courtyards leading from Rubinstein Street to the embankment of the Fontanka River. The facades of the three main courtyards are decorated as carefully as the front of the building (although on either side of the building are less decorated courtyards into which the back doors of the apartments open). The facades use hewed limestone, brick, and stucco.

In the central courtyard there was a Roman-style fountain designed and built by Lidval. This fountain was in place until the 1950s but was completely lost by the 1990s.

Tolstoy House, view from courtyard

Initially, there were passages in the center of the courtyards, and a small lawn which occupied only a very narrow strip along the original streets. In Soviet times, the appearance was significantly alterered: in the middle of the yard, driveways were made, the lawns were planted with poplars, and a statue was installed in the fountain. Thus was lost Lidval's original concept of an internal street.

Architectural monument

In 2008, the house was made a protected art and cultural monument under the aegis of the HOA. In 2009, Marina Kolotilo was made chairman of the HOA Tolstoy House. HOA is making efforts to repair, restore, and preserve the Tolstoy House. Kolotilo has begun an effort to establish a museum in the Tolstoy House and is preparing a program celebrating its 100th anniversary.

The building is designated an Architectural Monument of Regional Significance (number 7800770000). It is part of UNESCO World Heritage Site number 540, Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments. In 1988 it was given additional protected status as part of the Joint Security Area of St. Petersburg. However, in 2008, after reducing the buffer zone, the status of the building has been downgraded to Zone Controlled Building. Attempts have been made to raise the status of the Tolstoy House, which have not yet been successful.[4]

In film

The Tolstoy House appears as a setting in several Russian films. Most of Igor Maslennikov's 1985 film Winter Cherries takes place in the Tolstoy House, in its yards, or near it. In this film, the Tolstoy House serves as a kind of actor itself, playing up to the stars of the film and creating a certain mood. Maslennikov also used the Tolstoy House in his The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson series of television films to stand in for parts of Holmes's London.[5] Other films using the Tolstoy House include A Doctor Called?, You Never Dreamed Of..., Born of the Revolution, and Gangster Petersburg.

Famous residents

Past residents

Recent and current residents

References

Coordinates: 59°55′46″N 30°20′31″E / 59.92944°N 30.34194°E / 59.92944; 30.34194

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