St Petersburg’s most beautiful “доходный дом”

St Petersburg’s most beautiful “доходный дом”
15 March 2019

What do Rasputin and Raskolnikov have in common? Apart from the alliteration of their names, they both lived in a particular type of apartment building. Both the infamous and mysterious characters of St Petersburg’s history and literature alike lived in these buildings known as “доходный дом” – where flats all grouped together were rented out. In fact, the issue with paying the rent set off the whole plot of Dostoevsky’s masterpiece “Crime and Punishment”! But what exactly is доходный дом and why is it special in St.Petersburg architecture?

Basically it is a type of multi-family residential house built before 1950 with specific architecture. Today it is more or less known as a typical apartment rental house.

The first profitable houses in St Petersburg appeared in the XVIII century. In the city there were hundreds of such buildings, primarily in Russia. The owners occupied a small room, and the rest of the apartments were rented to tenants or private traders. Each of these houses in St. Petersburg has its own unusual story. Many famous personalities of the Northern capital lived in these houses. From Raskolnikov and Rasputin to Vyacheslav Ivanov. If you are interested in history and architecture and planning to visit St Petersburg, I would highly recommend to visit them!

Profitable house of K. I. Rosenstein

In the 19th century a large plot of land on the Petrogradskii Island was owned by several different people. At first, a velodrome was built on the land, and then an ice rink, where the first hockey match was played. At the beginning of the 20th century, this magnificent revenue house was built in a modern style. – Bolshoy prospect PS, d. 75

Profitable house Lidval

At the very beginning of Kamennoostrovsky Prospect, near the metro station “Gorkovskaya”, there is a beautiful example of northern modern architecture. The building was designed by the architect Fyodor Lidval, commissioned by his mother Ida Amalia Lidval. The apartment house, built between 1899 and 1904, was the young architect’s first project. The building’s façade is dominated by animal and plant motifs. Owls, lizards, lynxes and hares cover the front face of the building, and the balcony grilles are designed as spider-webs. – Kamennoostrovsky ave., d. 1-3

Profitable house on Malaya Monetnaya, 9

At the corner of Malaya and Bolshaya Monetnaya, you will find the house in which Alexander Alexandrovich Blok lived and worked between 1910 and 1912. You can still see his office window on the top floor, although it later became the kitchen, because in the Soviet years the apartment was turned into a communal apartment, where several families lived side-by-side. Until the middle of the twentieth century the house was topped by a spire, but it is unfortunately no longer there. – Malaya Monetnaya, 9

Profitable house Kolobovyh

The magnificent building along Lenin Street was built by the architect Sergey Ginger in 1910. The Kolobov brothers earned a fortune in the timber industry and their regular apartment house preferred to build not in the then fashionable modernist style, but in the spirit of an impressive neo-baroque. The layout of this building is very unique – it is one of those buildings that should be carefully examined from all sides. – ul. Lenina, 8

Profitable house Polezhaeva

In St Petersburg a house is not just a house, but a historical, artistic masterpiece. Polezhayev’s revenue house is no exception. The house, with its turrets and ornate décor, has been loved by filmmakers for many years. – ul. Starorusskaya, 5/3

Profitable house Nikonov

The house of the architect Nikolai Nikonov is commonly known as “Lebkuchen” – the building was built in the Neo-Russian style and really resembles the traditional national delicacy. The construction of the “tower” was completed in 1900. Nikonov already sold his creation a few years later in 1908 to the prosperous citizen of Saint Petersburg Dionysius Avrakhov, who owned an apartment rental house before the Revolution. The building has a luxurious décor: colored tiles, bright majolica inserts, floral ornaments and other decoration elements that give it a unique look and make it a real gem of the Central District. – Kolokolnaya, 11

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