Specialists of the Department of Major Construction of GlavUpDK and a specialized organization, together with the designer's supervision, painstakingly restore the original appearance of the mansion. Restorers often encounter real discoveries. Thus, at Sadovaya-Samotechnaya, beautiful fragments of wall paintings were discovered, as well as the location of a fireplace arranged as a tile stove, by M.A. Vrubel. Today, a strikingly bright fireplace decorated with majolica panels makes up the exposition of the State Tretyakov Gallery.
“We have a tremendous amount of work to do – this is the first comprehensive scientific restoration in the history of the mansion. The building has changed a few owners, who altered the settings for themselves – in some rooms, the surface was repainted up to 12 times, redesigns and upgrades were made. The mansion on Sadovaya-Samotechnaya is striking for its rich interior decor and façades. Painting panels, woodcarving elements, and stained-glass windows executed with the highest level of skill – all this will require delicate and painstaking work of the restorers,” Elena Zueva, Capital Projects Director, GlavUpDK, stressed the historical and cultural importance of restoring the original architectural monument.
Over its history, the building has had several owners reconstructing and changing it to suit them. In 1881, following the invitation of hereditary honorary citizen A. Postnikov, architect M. Piotrovich erected a three-story stone residential house. And in 1897, by order of the new owner, hereditary honorary citizen M. Krivoshein, architect V. Kossov worked on it.
In 1906, N.T. Kashtanov, an honorary citizen, a merchant of the First Guild, a public member of the Moscow City Duma (1909-1916), bought the mansion. The attic with his monograms decorates the central avant-corps of the building. The new owners of the house undertook partial alterations of the piano nobiles. We assume that it was during this period that the fireplace created by M.A. Vrubel based on the plot of the Russian epic Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich appeared in it.
In the 1920s, A. Hammer lived in the building with his future wife, the famous singer O. V. Vadina, since 1929, after the transfer of the building to Burobin (now – GlavUpDK), it housed the Embassy of Mexico.
Experts note the great safety of the building's interiors and façades made in eclecticism style with classical elements. The mansion is decorated with a grand staircase, lobby embellished with columns and pilasters of artificial marble, decorative painting of the ceiling and glued-laminated parquet, stained glass window. Wooden panels adorn the walls of the great hall; painted panels in caissons depicting garlands of flowers and fruits decorate the wooden ceiling. The room still has its historic wooden sideboard. A unique four-leaf glass door completes the ensemble of the hall.
The second-floor piano nobiles are also richly decorated. The ceilings feature stucco and brackets, elegant rosettes, and crystal chandeliers; there is a glazed partition with a door and a stained-glass window decorated with Bohemian crystal separating the living room and dining room, and the marble fireplace is finished with ceramic inlays.
The complex restoration of the building will reconstruct its historic interiors and exterior. The façades will be painted light yellow, the staircase and granite area in front of the main entrance will be recreated, and lion figures will be installed. Much care will be taken to restore the stucco decor, friezes, doors, and windows, to recreate the vases on the parapet pillars and the forged window bars on the first floor.
We will also work on the front stone staircase with a stained-glass window and skylight, the service staircase with molded posts, doors, mirrors, and glued-laminated parquet. Experts will pay special attention to pilasters, stucco, and columns made of artificial marble. In addition, the safe built into the wall and the fireplace on the second floor will be restored.
The restoration of the alfresco paintings on the walls of the main staircase, the frieze paintings, and the polychrome painting of the cornice with the gilding of some elements found under numerous layers of paint will require painstaking work.
In two rooms, the discovered fragments will serve to restore the leaf gilding on the monochrome bas-relief. A primed canvas with garlands and bouquets is on the coffered wooden ceiling of the front hall. The semicircular ceiling of the vestibule displays a grisaille painting framing a stucco cornice with gilding and the center of the composition with an illuminating plafond featuring an ochre-golden floral ornament.
We will also restore fences, entrance gates, and wicket doors and adapt the building for its contemporary use.
