Mansion. 1881, 1897, architects: M. Piotrovich, V. Kossov

Like the entire Garden Ring, Sadovaya-Samotechnaya Street lost all its gardens and the majority of its historical buildings in the tumultuous 20th century; nevertheless, it still features some houses with striking architecture or history. 

The modern number 14 that looks like a carved jewelry box against the gloomy Soviet urbanism, is famous primarily for its legends. The plot passed through multiple famous owners throughout its history (before the 19th century, it used to belong to Princes Volkonsky, the Scherbatovs, and other noble families. Young Ivan Turgenev lived there in his mother’s estate in 1829-1834. Buildings have been reconstructed regularly until in 1881, its new owner, honorary citizen Aleksey Semenovich Postnikov, decided to build a two-story stone residence with a fancy fence in front of a garden that would replace the old buildings. 

Overseen by architect M. Piotrovich, the building was erected in the prevailing eclectic style with Classicist elements. Its symmetrical rusticated façade was topped with a fancy attic; the inner layout followed the late Classicist principles, with enfiladed rooms and an inner passage that featured a staircase leading to the second floor. 

In 1897, the property was bought by hereditary honorary citizen Mikhail Krivoshein, then Head of the Moscow-Yaroslavl-Arkhangelsk railway commercial department. Soon, he contracted architect V. Kosov to design two stone wings to the main house: one for the grand lobby and the stairs, and another for the second staircase. Both wings were three-story tall and featured cellars. 

Finally, N. Kashtanov, an honorary citizen, a merchant of the First Guild, a public member of the Moscow City Duma (1909-1916), bought the mansion in 1906. The attic with his monograms decorates the central avant-corps of the building. The new owners made partial alterations to the piano nobiles. That was probably when a maiolica fireplace was installed in one of the sitting rooms; sketched by Milkhail Vrubel, it featured themes from the epic song Mikula Selyaninovich and Volha Svyatoslavovich.  In the mid-20th century, unfortunately, some residents did not like the fireplace and summarily thrashed it. Informed that they had to take away the unwanted fireplace, the Tretyakov Gallery workers came to find scattered pieces of precious maiolica. Restoration artists needed years to put Vrubel’s creation together piece by piece.

     After the 1917 Revolution, the house retained its residential status. In the 1920s, Russian-American Hammer Sr. bought it for his son Armand who was at the time living in Moscow with his future wife, singer Olga Vadina. Legends say the house in those days used to be a culture oasis, with almost nightly performances by foreign celebrities and museum-like interiors. The eccentric millionaire was obsessed with collecting household items used by the Tsars. The entire house was full of furniture and cutlery decorated with the Romanovs’ coats of arms. That was also a booming business: the Russian style was en vogue with affluent Americans at that time, and the Hammer brothers were among the top suppliers. 

After the Hammers left for the U.S., the property passed to the People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs. Now it accommodates the Embassy of Lebanon.