The Margarita Chernova House () is a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

in the city of

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. It was built in 1899 by architect . It has the status of an object of cultural heritage of regional importance.

History

After its completion at the end of 19th century and into the beginning of the 20th century, the mansion hosted receptions, musical performances, balls and other events in city life. The ground floor was rented by various trade organizations, including Shamkovich's Pharmacy and the "Julius Garokhov Trading House." The upper floor contained living spaces. The hall of the house had higher ceilings and luxurious interior decoration. A stage was located in the corner of the hall. A

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

d balcony was accessed from the hall. Along the facade facing was a dining room, a living room, a bedroom, and other premises. Each of the rooms was decorated with

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

painted with oil. The main entrance to the building is situated at the corner of Bolshaya Sadovaya Street and Khalturinsky Alley. On both sides of the mansion are false windows, decorated with stucco

architraves In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, of ...

. Above the corner portion rises a belvedere with a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

, the composite core of the mansion. On the second floor there is a balcony with a balustrade. The facade is richly decorated with stucco: decorative vases in niches, Atlantes, caryatids, medallions, sea shells, garlands and floral ornaments. In 1920 Chernova was evicted by Soviet authorities, and the building was nationalized. The city's Pharmacy No. 2 occupied the ground floor and basement, with Children's Commune No. 5 occupying the upper floor. Records show that by 1926 the upper floor was occupied by a sewing school, with Pharmacy No. 2 still on the lower floor, along with the newly established

joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...

Kozhsyryo, and "tenants of nine families in cramped living space: with seven people in one room of the former trading room." On 2 February 1926 the mansion became the Provincial Prosecutor's Office. Since 1940, the building housed the Communist party archive of the Rostov region, and after the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

― the State Archives of the Rostov region. By the early 2000s, the building was in disrepair. In 2001, the reconstruction of the building was carried out, during which the house was demolished and reconstructed again. In the process of restoration, the building's original elements were used. Currently, the mansion houses a branch of

VTB Bank VTB Bank (; formerly known as ''Vneshtorgbank'', , lit. 'International Trade Bank') is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered as St. Petersburg. As of 2022, ...

Gallery

File:Chernova house old 3.jpg, 1909 File:Bolshaya Sadovaya street old 2.jpg, 1910 File:Chernova house old 2.jpg, 1916

References

{{coord, 47, 13, 9, N, 39, 42, 8, E, display=title Cultural heritage monuments in Rostov-on-Don Buildings and structures in Rostov-on-Don Houses completed in 1899 Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Rostov Oblast