The Margarita Chernova House (russian: Дом Маргариты Черновой) 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 ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) 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 Eu ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. 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 con ...

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 a ...

painted with oil. The main entrance to the building is situated at the corner of

Bolshaya Sadovaya Street Bolshaya (Russian language for "big") may refer to: * Bolshaya, Arkhangelsk, a village * Bolshaya chistka, "Great Purge", the 1936–1938 Soviet purge * Bolshaya Izhora, an urban locality in the Lomonosovsky District of Leningrad Oblast * Bolshay ...

and Khalturinsky Alley. On both sides of the mansion are false windows, decorated with stucco architraves. Above the corner portion rises a

belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa *Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zim ...

with a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

, 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 is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certificates ...

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 Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

― 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.

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