French Ambassador's Residence (Moscow)

 interesting place, 1895_construction, ambassador's residence, object of cultural heritage of federal importance (Russia)

Резиденция посла Франции.
ул. Большая Якиманка, 43
This striking building in neo-classical Russian revival style is now the French embassy, but it was planned as the new home for the Nikolai Igumnov family, who had recently arrived in late 19th century Moscow from Yarolsavl via St. Petersburg. At the request of Igumnov, the building was designed by the architect Nikolai Pozdeyev to look like a 17th century wooden palace, but with all the modern conveniences of the time. Built from 1889-1893, the intricately carved sandstone facade, with its bulky second-story balcony, has colorful ceramic insets with pineapple shapes integrated into the carvings above the windows and porch. Its architectural shapes, in particular, the Old Russian style ornamentation including the barrel-shaped roof with tent-like projections, the porch arches with their pineapple-shaped pendantives, all contribute to the unusual appearance of this building.

The house was completed in 1893, at which time it is said that Pozdeyev presented the new owner with a bill exceeding the original estimate. Igumnov refused to pay the difference, and the unhappy architect reportedly hanged himself in the hall of the merchant's new mansion. But there was more unhappiness associated with this home. Legend has it that the ghost of Igumnov's mistress, whose likeness reportedly adorns the medallions decorating the drawing room, haunts the house. It is said that when she took a new lover, Igumnov was so enraged that he had her and her jewels cemented into the wall between the living room and the foyer. And the purchaser of the house never got to live in his magnificent new home. Igumnov was a gold merchant who ordered the path to his home to be paved with gold coins bearing the image of Nicholas II. This act of insolence so enraged the tsar that he had Igumnov exiled to Kolkhida. Today the town is known as the resort town of Gagra, but back then, it was a swamp along the Black Sea coast of Georgia. Of course, Igumnov didn't waste his time in exile. Planting eucalyptus trees to drain the swamps and laying out alleys of cypress trees to shade and beautify the area, Igumnov helped turn it into a major resort area. And the huge trees, which reach 30 meters in height, grow there to this day, in the form of letters N and I.

This unique residence stood empty until 1918, when it was used as a factory club for the state mint. Later, a medical research society occupied the site. At one point, it was even home to the legendary institute that examined Lenin's brain after his death. However, at the end of World War II the Soviet government handed over the building over to the French to serve as their embassy.