House of Carl Faberge on Bolshaya Morskaya. History of Faberge. Idyll in a million

Hunters for the missing treasures of the Faberge family have their own “holy trinity” - the Levashovo estate, a dovecote and a “noticeable tree” on the Finnish border.

Carl Gustavovich Faberge is a jeweler, a successor to his father’s craft. Owner of a jewelry company under the Tsarist regime. Had three sons.

In 1900, Carl Faberge acquired a dacha in Levashov, not far from Osinovaya Roshcha. House of manor architecture late XIX century - in the form English cottage- was built according to the design of the architect Karl Schmidt. In 1907, Karl Gustovich gave the estate to his second son, Agathon Faberge. In the same year, Agathon began its reconstruction, which was led by Ivan Galnbek, who worked as an artist at the Faberge company. The renovated 2-storey house in Art Nouveau style was completely finished in 1908

By that time, Agafon Karlovich (1876-1951) was inferior to his father only in fame - he had his own jewelry production, and besides, he was known as the best appraiser in Russia precious stones and from the age of 22 served as an expert in the Diamond Room of the Winter Palace. Light ceilings, spacious halls, bizarre outlines of the walls - in best traditions then popular modernism. And very quickly the Faberge dacha began to be called nothing less than the “small Hermitage” - the collection of ancient tapestries, antique furniture, paintings by the best European artists and, of course, jewelry masterpieces with the Faberge mark was so magnificent.

Agafon Karlovich was a jeweler not only by profession, but also by attitude. What are they worth? sundial from living trees, similar to the famous Pushkin dial in Mikhailovsky, or a tiled fireplace that defies the stove in the Menshikov Palace in St. Petersburg, where not a single pattern is repeated twice! And also a drawing of the parquet floor in one of the halls of the mansion, persistently suggesting the Throne Room of the Winter Palace.

The former decoration of the Faberge dacha can now be learned only from the archival documents of the Levashovsky executive committee. When on September 18, 1919 the mansion was subjected to another and more qualified search, an employee of the department for the protection, accounting and registration of monuments of art and antiquities B.N. Molas noted in a memo: “it is difficult to imagine to what extent Faberge lived at the dacha military unit all the rich and highly artistic furnishings, without exception, were mutilated and mutilated. All paintings are pierced with bayonets; all the upholstery was torn off the furniture; all inlaid and mosaic tables and especially numerous style (Louis XVI), chests of drawers, cabinets, wardrobes and bureaus are distorted; all the books are torn, that is, without bindings or illustrations, and most are torn into pieces.”

Then the “treasure hunters” found behind the partition isolated room. In the presence of representatives of the district party committee and the Petrograd fortified area, it was opened. It turned out to be a large number of precious stones, medals, vases and paintings. Later, representatives of the Defense Committee came to the house and seized the valuables without drawing up a report or taking an inventory. All things were packed into 10 boxes and taken away by bus. In addition to this, two paintings and a large iron-bound book-album were taken. Among the items taken away were a huge collection of postage stamps and over 1,700 precious stones of various sizes.

Agathon stayed in Petrograd to finish business - and was arrested as a “bourgeois contrarian” following a denunciation. How "special" dangerous element", he was sent to a concentration camp, and there three times in a little over a year he was taken to be executed, but each time he was "suddenly" pardoned. The secret of such loyalty was largely explained by the fact that only Agafon Karlovich could tell where Faberge’s countless treasures were hidden. At least that's what the security officers could hope for. After all, it was known that his father fled from Russia, taking with him only a small suitcase. There was nothing in it except a change of clothes.

In 1920, Agafon Karlovich was released under an amnesty and, as if as a mockery, he was assigned to evaluate large quantities of diamonds and jewelry, with which the Bolsheviks intended to pay off the West. Many of these treasures were marked with the Fabergé name. The once richest jeweler's property included only shoes, a tattered coat and a painting, hidden from friends for a rainy day. In December 1927, Agathon Faberge fled to Finland with his wife and son across the ice of the Gulf of Finland.

Eugene Faberge was not a supporter of the Bolsheviks, especially after they once very persistently knocked on his apartment on Bolshaya Morskaya to confiscate his father’s inheritance. By that time, the young man had installed an elevator safe in his home, where he hid bouquets of gems and boxes strewn with diamonds. The apartment was urgently rented to the Swiss embassy - security officers did not have the right to conduct a search on the inviolable territory of a friendly state. But the cache was still discovered. Although the savvy Evgeniy managed to hide a small part of the jewelry.

The fate of the confiscated art treasures is still unknown. Probably, this collection became part of the “diamond fund of the Politburo”, created in the same 1919 in the event of the overthrow of Soviet power. It is known, for example, that Yakov Sverdlov kept part of this “fund” in the form of selected diamonds at home and at work. However, all this was only a small fraction of the Faberge family's fortune.

Historians say that, having involved his wife and former shareholder of Bauer’s company in the case, Agathon chose a secret place where he buried suitcases filled with rubies. And then the versions diverge. Some believe that the wealth is hidden on the Finnish border under a noticeable tree. Fleeing from pursuit, Faberge and his wife made their way there secretly. Others say that the jewelry still rests in the soil of the Muduli estate near Riga. And the third place is the same Faberge dacha in Levashovo. In addition to the looted secret room, here, apparently, there is or existed another treasure. At least, Agathon's brother, Eugene Faberge (1878-1960), testified about him. Until the end of his life, he insisted that he personally buried a suitcase with diamonds worth about five million royal rubles here in the park.

In the looted mansion in Levashovo, life continued after the change of eras. The Bolsheviks set up a sanatorium here for NKVD officials, and during the Siege they placed a hospital here.

Now the Faberge dacha is one of the most unique monuments of estate architecture of the 19th century, a monument of federal significance - on the verge of collapse. Preserved from former luxury marble staircase inside a huge building, oak railings and, by some miracle, a tiled stove that had survived in one of the rooms. The carriage house, stables, garage, icehouse, 2-story servants' building - all this needs urgent restoration.

On the second floor is the master's office. A small nook where you can touch both walls at once with both hands was Karl Gustavovich’s favorite room. Once upon a time, here was the heart of the house - the Faberge safe. And instead of broken concrete and mice, there were jeweler’s masterpieces on shelves in the armored walls.

IN big hall A Dutch tiled stove has been preserved. A few years ago, a woman restorer came to the dacha. The beauty of the blue tiles blinded her, and she decided to restore this miracle. Now the stove decorates the tattered wall alone.

Stained glass in the basement window, oak front door, barely visible images of golden lutes on the wall. In the 50s, a kindergarten was set up here for the offspring of the party elite, and the ornaments were covered with plaster. There is still a cross from under the Christmas tree on the floor in the living room, and a sign that says “Dining Room” is nailed to the door.

The owners of luck change frequently. After the collapse of the USSR, a new Russian bought the house, threw out the rubbish and was already planning restoration, but it went bankrupt.

Then Faberge’s granddaughter from Denmark showed up, took a dozen photographs and left. In 2007, the Faberge dacha was transferred to the Mining Institute. There will be a museum there - a branch of the Mining Institute. They want to restore the Small Hermitage from the ruins and transport the priceless collection there at the Mining Institute in three years (information 2009). By the way, in the collection of the Mining Institute there are 20 jewelry rarities, possibly from that very safe room. Animals with diamond eyes, one such figurine costs 20 thousand dollars and a snuff box made of agate and gold is 10 times more expensive.

K. Faberge and F. Birbaum.

People still suffer from gold fever in Levashovo. The old watchman guarding the half-rotten mansion has more than once chased away teenagers with metal detectors from the garden park, which, it must be said, find nothing except beer caps.

However, it is known that in the 1990s, the Faberge treasure was actually found in Moscow. It was hidden in the house of one of the former directors Moscow branch of the company. A tin candy box immured in the wall contained 17 valuable pieces of jewelry made of gold and precious stones.

House of Faberge Modern

Pam. arch. (region.)

1899-1900 - architect. Schmidt Karl Karlovich

The site of house No. 24 belonged to the bellmaker Christophor Foerster, who was hired by Peter I in 1720 to play bells on the clock on the spitz of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

From the middle of the 18th century. For more than 50 years, the house belonged to the Ador family, whose head was a malt manufacturer, and whose son was a goldsmith. About 20 items by I. Ador are kept in a special storeroom of the Hermitage.

In the early 1830s, the owner of the house was another jeweler, the Englishman Duvell. In 1836, the house was rebuilt by the architect P. Jacot.
In the 1830s. here was the shop of the bookseller Luke Dixon, from whom Pushkin bought foreign books, often in debt, which after his death was paid off by the guardianship.

The building of complex architecture with intricate decor is decorated with only one type of stone - red Gangut granite. But granite is processed with different textures, and therefore it has different shades. Ground floor The building with massive columns is made in a polished texture, enhancing the rich red color of the granite. Columns complex shape carved from huge blocks of granite of homogeneous structure, but in some places they show the banding characteristic of Gangut granite. Above the columns there are slabs of a particularly dark red color. The arches above the display windows are made of wedge-shaped stones, hewn from a banded (gneiss-like) variety of granite. The striped pattern of the stone radiates out from the center of the arches. The upper floors are tiled with finely-pointed slabs, which gives the granite a smoky light pink color. The window frames and other details are made in the “rock” texture and have a darker pink color.

1924: Joint Stock Company "Arkos" in London, Petrograd office; Mixed Joint Stock Company " Russian Society Trade" "Rusot"; Commission office, "Arkos", st. Herzen (b. Morskaya), 24. (“All Leningrad - 1924”. P. 162, 163, 196)

1925: Office of the head of rafting of the North-Western region (“Nachsplav”); North-Western Timber Industry Trust (“Sevzaplesprom”); "Arkos" Joint Stock Company in London, Leningrad office; "Rusot"; Mixed Joint Stock Company "Russian Trade Society", st. Herzen (b. Morskaya), 24. (“All Leningrad - 1925”. P. 283, 294, 307, 308)

In the period 1923-1925 there was no Norwegian consulate.

1926-1927: Norwegian Consulate, st. Herzen (b. Morskaya), 24. ("All Leningrad - 1926", P. 17; All Leningrad - 1927", P. 11)

1928: All-Union-Western Chamber of Commerce; Leningrad Credit and Industrial Cooperative Partnership “Handicraft”; Leningrad Society of Handicraftsmen and Craftsmen; All-Union Chemical Syndicate, Leningrad Regional Branch; "UMT" - Southern Machine-Building Trust, Leningrad Agency; "Torgsbyt" Partnership on faith, st. Herzen (b. Morskaya), 24. ("All Leningrad and the region - 1928", P. 111, 172, 205, 432, 434, 439)

1928: "RussNorwegoLes", Onega Russian-Norwegian joint stock company. society (forestry) - st. Herzen, 24 (p. 266)

1929: Handicraft, credit and fishing cooperative partnership; "Lenget" (state fat trust); « Boomsindicate » (All-Union Paper Industry Syndicate), Leningrad branch; "Khimsindicat » (All-Union Chemical Syndicate), North-Western Branch; "Torgsbyt" Partnership on faith, st. Herzen, 24. (Guide to Leningrad Leningrad - 1929, p. 62, 62, 64, 66, 70)

1929: “Artel-credit” industrial and credit cooperative partnership of production artels and

artisans, st. Herzen, 24. (Guide to Leningrad Leningrad - 1929, p. 62,)

1930: Cooperative metal group "Leningrad Emalier"; Cooperative construction group"Economstroy"; Realsnab cooperative; “Bumsindicat” All-Union Syndicate of the Paper Industry, Leningrad branch, st. Herzen (b. Morskaya), 24. ("All Leningrad and the region - 1930", P. 198, 202, 206, 449)

1931: Leningrad Regional Union of Mutual Insurance and Mutual Assistance Cash Offices of the Industrial Cooperation “Lenoblpromsoyuzkass”, and the following 3 inter-district industrial insurance cash offices: Volodarskaya, Smolninskaya and Prigorodnaya; "Lengort" - Leningrad State United Regional Office Retail, st. Herzen (b. Morskaya), 24. (“All Leningrad - 1931”. P. 216, 386)

1932; "Insnab" Leningrad Regional Branch, st. Herzen (b. Morskaya), 24. (“All Leningrad - 1932”. P. 231)

1933: "Insnab" All-Union office for supplying foreigners, Leningrad branch, st. Herzen (b. Morskaya), 24. (“All Leningrad - 1933”. P. 160)

1934: “Insnab” All-Union office for supplying foreigners, Leningrad regional branch; Department store, st. Herzen (b. Morskaya), 24. (“All Leningrad - 1934.” P. 194)

1935: “Insnab” Leningrad branch of the All-Union Office for the Supply of Foreigners; Store No. 2 of manufactured goods, st. Herzen (b. Morskaya), 24. (“All Leningrad - 1935.” P. 218)

1937: Antique and art base of the V/O “Mezhkniga-Antiques”; "International Book-Antiques" Leningrad Regional Association, Antiques and Art Base, st. Herzen, 24. (1937 - Leningrad list of subscribers", pp. 203, 272)

1939-1940: Jewelrytorg, Leningrad interregional branch, st. Herzen, 24. (“All Leningrad - 1939”, p. 74; “All Leningrad - 1940”. p. 121)

1965: "Jewelirtorg", Len. interregional k-ra - st. Herzen, 24, warehouse - Aprksin Dvor, building 23(. p. 208.)

1973: Yakhont store (jewelry) - st. Herzen, 24 (p. 266)

1973: Interregional office "Yuvelirtorg" (Ministry of Trade of the RSFSR) - st. Herzen, 24 (p. 240, p. 303)

1973: City government telephone network - st. Herzen, 24 (p. 253)

1973: Central telephone center - st. Herzen, 24 (p. 253)

1973: Trade Organization"Yuvelirtorg" - st. Herzen, 24, tel. 12-37-36; bargain. department: 15-28-91 ([

A very expressive once seven-story building apartment building, located on the corner of Prechistenka and Lopukhinsky Lane, was built (initially six floors) in 1910-1911 according to the design of a German subject commissioned by the owner of the founder of the Moscow Trade and Construction joint stock company Yakov Andreevich Rekka.

The corner of the building was accentuated by a semicircular bay window, above which rose a clock tower, decorated with bas-relief and sculptures. The turret emphasized the dominant position of the building over the surrounding two- and three-story buildings. The design of the street facades is made using neoclassical motifs - stucco moldings in ionics window openings, mascarons, garlands, sculptures of eagles.

You could enter the house from Prechistenka Street into a very presentable lobby and from the alley. The visitor ascended the main staircase to the apartments (two per floor), located in the central part with a corner bay window and in the side wing, black stairs leading to the courtyard. In the second entrance from the alley, the lobby had a similar design. There was only one apartment on each floor of this part of the building.

The apartments have front rooms - living rooms and living rooms- located along street facades. The kitchens and servants' rooms opened onto the courtyard. By today's standards, the house was elite - there were elevators, sewerage, running water, and bathrooms. So, in 1911 you could rent an apartment in this house for 1200 - 3000 rubles a year. The homeowner himself, and he was listed as Yakov Andreevich Rekk himself, lived in a house down the street, the manager lived in a two-story stone building in the courtyard.

The house is famous for its tenant. On top floor Apartments 11 and 12 were located, occupied by Alexander Petrovich Faberge, a relative of the famous jeweler. He was a legal adviser at the Faberge firm; during the revolution he hastily left Russia, leaving behind all his property. Both apartments became communal apartments, they were occupied by a commune of Moscow artists, in particular, the “Jack of Diamonds” group. One was inhabited by the artist B.A. Takke, on the other - artists Zakharov, Serova, Arkhipova and director, teacher of GITIS A.A. Muat, an acquaintance of Mikhail Bulgakov. Naturally, he visited here, saw furniture left by Faberge, and the name of the former owner constantly came up in conversations. The new residents sincerely believed that caches of jewelry could be left in the apartment (according to some legends, one of the caches of silver was found during the reconstruction of the house in the 1980s).

You can meet the apartment, and even the former owner, who turned, however, to Anna Frantsevna Fougere in the novel “The Master and Margarita.” It is known that in Faberge’s apartment there was a chandelier on a chain hanging from a height of 7.5 m (the cat Hippopotamus seemed to be swinging on it), a fireplace with a cast iron grate, and wooden sofas on staircase landings also written off from this house. Once again the house will appear in " Heart of a Dog" Although Professor Preobrazhensky actually lives opposite the plot, in house 24, the description of the Kalabukhovsky house is still taken from house 13 - marble steps in the lobby, a doorman, a carpet runner, a shoe rack and an oak hanger. And the professor himself says: “Notice, there are 12 apartments here,” and in building 24 there are only eight of them.

In 1983-1987, the building was built with a seventh technical floor according to the project carried out by the Yaroslavl branch State Institute for the design of instrument making plants and automation equipment Gipropribor. The house underwent significant reconstruction; the corner tower was included in the superstructure and virtually ceased to exist. And the house has lost a significant part of its charm. In the 2000s, the house was reconstructed.

Bolshaya Morskaya Street is one of the most beautiful and “ceremonial” in St. Petersburg, and house No. 24 is one of the most beautiful on Bolshaya Morskaya. It is not surprising - after all, this building was built by order of Carl Faberge, the most famous jeweler in Russia (or even the whole world).

History of the Faberge company

The founder of the famous dynasty, Carl Faberge, was a hereditary jeweler - his father Gustav had his own business in St. Petersburg, but a very modest one. The first works of Faberge's workshop were not of particular interest and were almost no different from the works of other jewelers of those times. “Clumsy gold bracelets, fashionable at that time, brooches and medallions with chains and clasps... they were decorated with stones and enamel...” - this is how the company’s early products are described.

But by the mid-1880s, when Carl Fabergé was joined by his 20-year-old brother Agathon, Fabergé's products began to transform into a distinctive style of jewelry making. It was at this time that most of the “themes and plots” arose that would later glorify Faberge: the famous Easter eggs, animal figurines, flowers... Unlike most jewelers of that time, the Faberge brothers did not just follow fashion trends, but looked for inspiration in antiquity, in oriental art, in their numerous travels to the world's cultural capitals. The Hermitage was also a constant source of inspiration for the brothers: they carefully studied all the eras represented there, copied vintage jewelry and used their motifs in their new compositions. Foreign antique dealers, having learned about the brothers’ ability to accurately copy ancient jewelry, repeatedly offered them to perform certain works, but without imposing Faberge’s signature marks - but the brothers, of course, refused such dubious offers.

Yes, they didn’t need to do such things - there was no end to orders anyway. And what orders they were! Thus, the future Emperor Nicholas II purchased a Faberge pearl and diamond necklace worth 166,500 rubles as an engagement gift to his bride, Princess Alika of Hesse-Darmstadt; Alexander III bought another necklace for her from Faberge, costing 250,000 rubles. The imperial family ordered sets from Faberge, gifts for travel abroad, and countless souvenirs for the coronation of Nicholas II, and subsequently the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov. And after participating in the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, the Faberge firm became famous abroad.

In the pre-revolutionary years, the Faberge company reached unimaginable heights. In 10 years (from 1907 to 1917), more than 10 thousand items were sold in the London branch alone, and more than 200 thousand worldwide. Three hundred jewelers worked for the company in St. Petersburg and another two hundred in Moscow. People even came from America to buy Faberge products to the banks of the Neva.

Products

The niche occupied by the Faberge firm concerned not so much jewelry, how many “useful” luxury items are there - watches, bells, lamps, photo frames, handles for umbrellas and canes, cigarette cases, writing instruments and other little things that are useful in everyday life, but at the same time instantly recognizable and emphasizing the status of their owner. Sometimes these things were made of gold and silver, sometimes just wood and enamel, but in any case they were impeccably elegant and valuable.

One more distinctive feature The Faberge company had a novelty - Faberge representatives released new items every year, and unsold items, according to legend, were sent to be melted down at the end of the year. “...If you compare companies like Tiffany, Boucherand, Cartier with my business, then they probably have more jewelry than I do. They can find a finished necklace for 1,500,000 rubles,” Faberge told reporters. - But these are traders, not jewelers-artists. I have little interest in an expensive thing if its price is only that it is set with a lot of diamonds or pearls.”

Easter eggs for imperial family

As for the famous Faberge Easter eggs, the first of them was made in 1885 by order of the emperor Alexandra III. From then on, Fabergé created Easter eggs for the imperial family one after another: for Alexander III, who gave them to his wife Maria Feodorovna every year, and for Nicholas II, who ordered them as gifts for his mother and wife. A total of 54 Faberge Easter eggs were created according to imperial orders (10 for Alexander III and 44 for Nicholas II); 45 of them have survived to this day. When ordering new Easter eggs from Faberge, both Nikolai and Alexander relied on the jeweler’s imagination; There were only three mandatory conditions - egg-shaped, no repetitions and “surprise”. The latter, as a rule, was associated with some event in the life of the imperial family: birth, anniversary, coronation, coming of age.

“Surprises” included miniature models made of precious metals, jewelry, images of people, events and places significant to the imperial family (portraits of children, drawings of residences, models of ships on which Nicholas II sailed). Some “surprises” could only be seen after being removed from the egg, some were visible through the transparent shell of the egg. One of the most famous “surprises” was, for example, a tiny but very accurate model of the Gatchina Palace and surrounding areas, with tiny trees and lanterns; others - layout Bronze Horseman. The coronation carriage from the Coronation Easter egg is worthy of special mention: in this model, every tiny detail was functional: the handles turned, the doors closed, the straps were cushioned, the body swayed on the chassis. The same can be said about current model trains from the Easter egg "The Great Siberian Route": it was an exact copy locomotive and carriages of the Trans-Siberian Express!

Faberge worked on many of the eggs for more than a year, but the surprise remained until the last moment, even from the emperor himself. At the appointed time, the egg was presented to the Tsar either personally by Carl Faberge or his son Evgeniy Karlovich - and was always greeted with delight.

House on Bolshaya Morskaya

The place to build the Faberge house was not chosen by chance. Bolshaya Morskaya Street was a real Mecca for jewelers in the 19th century. Here were the stores of all Faberge's largest competitors: Bolin, Butz and others. Carl Faberge himself lived for many years in house No. 16 on Bolshaya Morskaya: his sons grew up here, and the first store was opened here. Therefore, having decided to build the “head office” of the Faberge company, the owner bought a plot of land on Bolshaya Morskaya.

The author of the project of the house, designed to become both a store and a workshop, was the architect K.K. Schmidt - son cousin Carla Faberge. The main facade is made in the Art Nouveau style with elements of the Anglo-Gothic style: heavy semi-columns made of polished red granite on the first floor only emphasize the lightness and upward direction of the next floors with mirrored windows.

Construction was completed in just two years - 1899-1900. A gold and diamond jewelry store opened on the ground floor; on the rest (as well as in the courtyard outbuildings) there were numerous workshops equipped last word technology. On the top floor there was a private art studio, where talented young designers came up with new masterpieces. Administrative premises and the 15-room apartment of Carl Faberge himself also found a place on Bolshaya Morskaya, 24.

Special attention when finishing interior spaces houses on Bolshaya Morskaya paid attention to the safety of jewelry stored in it. A unique safe elevator, made in Berlin, was specially designed for them: it was energized and rose to the second floor at night. This, however, did not stop him from being robbed in 1918.

Nowadays, a jewelry store still operates on the ground floor of the Faberge House. Of course, it has nothing to do with the previous owners. But, going inside, you can see old oak counters - the same ones that the new owners “inherited” from Carl Faberge.

Elephant, giraffe and other animals

There is a legend that Carl Faberge’s friend, sugar factory L.I. Koenig once went to Africa for treatment. Having asked a friend what he should bring from a distant country, he heard in response a comic “Giraffe!”

A few months later, a janitor showed up on the second floor of the house on Bolshaya Morskaya, 24 and, looking at the ceiling of the manor’s apartment, thoughtfully declared: “There’s no way you can get through the gate!” Approaching the window, the amazed jeweler saw a huge crowd, and in its center... a real giraffe, which really did not get through the gate. It seems that Koenig was a man of his word... The gift had to be sent to the zoological garden.

But here is a more reliable story from the memoirs of Oleg Agafonovich Faberge “Sequins”: “...My father’s duties included visiting the most respected clients. His last trip before the First World War was a trip to Ceylon - a visit to the Maharajah, whose name, unfortunately, in My memory did not survive. The stay in Ceylon was quite long, my father had the opportunity to ride on elephants several times, and he really fell in love with these kind and intelligent animals. This did not go unnoticed by the Maharaja, and when the moment of farewell came, my father was invited into the interior. courtyard of the palace. There stood a large and beautiful elephant - a gift from the owner to his father as a sign of gratitude for all the joy that we had. art products delivered royal family for many years! And so a well-trained elephant literally fell on my father, and he did not know which side to approach it from.

Finally, everyone unanimously came to the conclusion that he would take the elephant to Russia as soon as he prepared everything in Levashov - he would build a suitable “stable” and equip a pen of sufficient size. These works were in full swing, and were interrupted only by the outbreak of war in 1914. World War. So my father, to his great chagrin, lost his personal elephant. As for the elephant, he was lucky: he managed to escape life in a rather cold and snowy country. He remained in his natural environment with its warm climate, and besides, the elephant did not have to experience all the delights of the Russian revolution..."

The Faberge House on Bolshaya Morskaya, 24 attracts attention with its extraordinary architecture in the Art Nouveau style, triangular roof frames and multifaceted, if not jewellery, decoration of the facades with red granite. This house had many owners: rich merchants and bell-makers; there was a bookstore and a church parish, a small studio and even an artist’s workshop. But it gained the greatest fame as the House of Faberge, where the famous jeweler lived and worked.

House and history of Faberge in Russia

Carl Faberge, the heir of the great master Gustave, was born and raised in St. Petersburg. It was only for the sake of studying in Dresden that he left his homeland, and upon his return he bought a house on Bolshaya Morskaya. At that time, the building was a classic palace typical of the city’s architecture, and modern look in the Art Nouveau style he was betrayed by the architect K.K. hired by Karl. Schmidt.
The multi-storey mansion housed the entire creative citadel of the Faberge family:

• On the ground floor there is a jewelry store;
• The second and third were occupied by the workshops of great jewelers and the master himself, working under a single brand;
• On top floor The apartments of Karl Gustavich's family were located - a 15-room apartment with a luxurious library, study, boudoir and bedrooms.

The Faberge House on Bolshaya Morskaya gave the family many joyful moments - creative recognition and popularity, the birth of sons Evgeniy, Alexander and Agathon. Happiness was destroyed by the revolution of 1917, when the family was forced to flee Russia. The sons managed to take only a small fraction of the products with them; everything else was captured by the Bolsheviks and nationalized.
After leaving his home, Carl Faberge went to Riga, then to Germany, Switzerland and Cannes. Relatives recall that he often repeated: “Life is over.” In 1920, the master died far from his homeland and was buried in Cannes.

Faberge House in St. Petersburg: how to get there and what to see

The Faberge House in St. Petersburg on Bolshaya Morskaya is located a 5-minute walk from the Admiralteyskaya metro station. Nowadays the house houses a jewelry store where you can buy jewelry from modern Russian masters.