There are many beautiful buildings in Moscow. One of them is Igumnov's mansion on Bolshaya Yakimanka, called a gingerbread house. Contemporaries did not appreciate the architect's plan. The masterpiece he created was the place of the ruined soul, and the mint, and the institution of the brain. As a result, it turned into the residence of the French ambassador.
The history of the mansion built in the Russian terem style keeps not only the mysteries of the building itself, but also the incredible twists and turns of the fate of its owner and architect.
Everyone's envy
At the end of the 19th century, a Moscow merchant Nikolai Igumnov decided to build a house on the site of the estate. The building was supposed to delight all the nobility. The work was entrusted to the Yaroslavl architect Nikolai Pozdeev.
He presented the project unprecedented in the capital. The mansion was striking in luxury. The customer spared no expense for the realization of the idea, choosing all the best. The result is a house-fabulous box.
Here are just to appreciate the masterpiece to know could not or did not want to. The work was called sheer bad taste and even vulgarity of the bast shoe merchant. Justice, however, still triumphed: many great masters, including the famous Shchusev, spoke with admiration of Pozdeev's creation, calling Igumnov's house an example of the pseudo-Russian style.
Curse
However, after assessing the nobility, the merchant, in anger, accused the architect of exceeding the budget, refusing to pay for the work. In utter despair, the master cursed the creation, predicting that no one would be happy in it. The mansion became the last project of the architect, who passed away almost immediately after returning to his homeland.
And Igumnov's mistress settled in the mansion on Yakimanka, staying there while the merchant traveled around on business. Returning unexpectedly, he sent the traitor with another. The revenge was cruel: no one else saw the unfaithful one. It was rumored that the enraged Igumnov immured the windy dancer. After that no one stayed in the house. The servants fled, listening to the voices at night and seeing a feminine shadow that terrified them.
Wanting to save the mansion from notoriety, Nikolai Vasilyevich gave a magnificent reception. Igumnov invited the nobility. Many admired the painted unprecedented tower, smiling enviously when looking at the high vaults. In the living room, the host again shook the guests, this time with European classics. There were both the Middle Ages and the Empire in the house. The merchant showed all the splendor to those who arrived. And the apotheosis of the celebration was the floor laid out in gold coins.
New life
But instead of enthusiasm, the owner got trouble. The king was informed that they walked on the king's face with their feet. Nicholas II could not stand such disrespect for his person. Igumnov was exiled from Moscow to Abkhazia, to his estate. This is how the architect's wish came true: no owner can live in this house.
The enterprising merchant did not disappear. Far from the cursed mansion, he took up gardening. He drained the swamps and acquired new lands. They were planted with cypresses with eucalyptus, kiwi, tangerines, mangoes, medicinal trees and tobacco. In addition, Igumnov founded a fish cannery on the coast.
After the October events, the merchant remained to work at the state farm as an agronomist.
A mint was set up in the gingerbread house. Then the Institute of the Brain worked here. The building was later transferred to the French Embassy. Now the personal residence of the ambassador is located here.
