The Estate of Anna Ignatyevna Bashkirova is a regional monument of urban planning and architecture located at 11 Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street (structures A, A1, V). The estate complex took shape from the mid-19th century and acquired its present appearance by the early 20th century. From 1894 its owner was Anna Ignatyevna Bashkirova, wife of Yakov Yemelyanovich Bashkirov — a member of one of the largest merchant families of Nizhny Novgorod.[1] Its protected status was established by resolution No. 36 of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Region dated 25 February 1999.[1]

History of the Estate's Formation

On the fixation plan of 1848–1853, the plot contained a wooden house and several outbuildings. According to the 1865 valuation register, the main buildings were "a wooden house on a foundation with a mezzanine" and "a wooden wing without a foundation." In the 1874 appraisal ledger, the house was described as "a two-storey wooden building with five windows along the front."[1]

In 1894 the estate was acquired by A. I. Bashkirova. That same year a project was drawn up for rebuilding the main house, providing for the building's extension to the western boundary of the plot, the demolition of the old porch, and the creation of a new entrance from the courtyard. The facade was conceived as a unified whole, with no visible division between the old and new sections. The author of the project is not established; supervision of the construction work was carried out by engineer-architect V. M. Lemke. The rebuilding was carried out with deviations from the project: the street facade received more restrained, though still fairly representative, decorative ornamentation. Somewhat later, presumably in the mid-1900s, an annex with a formal entrance appeared on the eastern side of the house, its decor harmoniously complementing the ornamentation of the main volume.[1]

The house was originally income-generating and let out for rent. To increase its profitability, a one-and-a-half-storey wing was added to the house along the western boundary of the estate; the project dates to 1901, and the architect is not established. At the end of 1904 — around 1905 — a single-storey stone service building was erected on the site of the former wooden outbuildings, with facades in the spirit of the so-called brick architecture; the authors of this project are likewise unknown.[1]

The source autotravel-nn.ru mentions that both Bashkirov family estates on Bolshaya Pecherskaya (houses No. 11 and No. 13) were rebuilt to designs by the architect N. B. Feldt, and that the rebuilding of house No. 13 in particular took place in 1882, with a new layout and rich stucco decoration of the facades.[3] Information about Feldt's involvement in the work on house No. 11 is not confirmed in documentary sources; with respect to it, only V. M. Lemke's supervision is recorded.[1]

Composition and Layout

The estate occupies a narrow plot stretching deep into the block from north to south — between Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street. This configuration reflects the historical parcelling of plots in the block, characteristic of the crowded urban development of the second half of the 19th century. On its western side, the estate's territory directly adjoins the neighbouring estate complex (Bolshaya Pecherskaya, 13). The complex comprises three structures: the main estate house (structure A), the wing (structure A1), and the service building (structure V).[1]

Fate After Nationalization

In 1918 the estate was nationalized (placed under municipal ownership). Until 1939 the buildings housed a mounted militia unit, after which the structures were converted into residential apartments.[1]

To this day, the facades of the main house have not changed fundamentally, although there are some minor losses of plaster ornamentation. Inside, the layout has been partly altered — through the installation of storage rooms and the dismantling of stoves; the formal staircase has been completely rebuilt; in the semi-basement, load-bearing longitudinal walls have been removed. The interiors of the formal staircase hall and the semi-basement rooms have not survived. A billiard club now occupies the former estate house. The wing and the service building are not in use and are gradually falling into ruin.[1]

Sources

  1. nn800.ru — Bolshaya Pecherskaya, 11 — The Bashkirova Estate — I Am Discovering Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  2. autotravel-nn.ru — The A. I. Bashkirova Estate (mid-19th — early 20th centuries) — Monument of urban planning and… (archive)
  3. ru.wikivoyage.org — File: Усадьба А.Башкировой.jpg — Wikivoyage Travel Guide (archive)