On September 3, 2026, in Historic Buildings at the corner of Sennaya Square and Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street was completed in Nizhny Novgorod — the "Chardymov House" and the "Samgin House." That same day, an official opening ceremony with a press tour took place; the first food-service establishment in the buildings welcomed visitors on September 4.[1][2]

History of the Buildings

The buildings at the corner of Sennaya Square and Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street (formerly known as Staro-Soldatskaya Street) were constructed in 1911. As early as 1874, the site was occupied by the estate of Pelageya Fomicheva, the wife of a non-commissioned officer: a main house, an outbuilding, and a shop. In 1895, the estate passed to Konstantin Samgin, who established a shop and a tavern on the premises. In the 1910s, the estate was acquired by Pavel Chardymov, who commissioned architect Sergey Levkov to erect a new two-story building — an example of Wooden Buildings of Nizhny Novgorod with elements of Russian folk style.[1]

The "Chardymov House" holds the status of a regional cultural heritage site. The "Samgin House" had no protected status but was considered a valuable urban-defining structure. In recent decades both buildings had fallen into a state of serious disrepair.[3][4] In May 2022, both houses were almost entirely destroyed by fire; of the "Samgin House" nothing remained but the foundation.[3]

Restoration Process

Preparation of documentation took from 2022 to 2025; active construction work lasted just over a year.[3] According to architect and restoration specialist Yegor Bulychev, the project's scientific director with sixteen years of experience, design approval had begun as early as 2020.[5]

The principal technical challenge was the absence of a historic fire-separation wall between the two buildings. Initially, separate design packages were developed for each structure, but obtaining independent expert approval proved impossible; ultimately the buildings were consolidated into a single design complex with shared fire-safety, ventilation, and engineering systems. Finding fire-protection solutions within a densely built urban environment took approximately one and a half to two years.[4][3]

Demolition of the damaged structural elements was carried out by hand: the wooden logs had by that point lost so much of their load-bearing capacity that they cracked apart during dismantling.[4] The "Chardymov House" was restored using archival photographs, which made it possible to recreate the carved decorative elements and architectural details of the original façade.[6] On the site of the "Samgin House," a new two-story building was erected preserving the original massing and an architectural idiom referencing the early twentieth century; the foundation required additional reinforcement in the process.[4][2]

The restoration was financed entirely from private funds: the investor — Developmentregion LLC — invested more than 150 million rubles in the work.[1][5] Both buildings are owned by Nizhny Novgorod Region and have been transferred to the operational management of Regnedvizhimost".[6] The investor has been granted a preferential land lease at one ruble per year, as well as the option of partial reimbursement of costs incurred for the protection of the cultural heritage site or for loan interest payments.[1]

Post-Restoration Use

In the "Samgin House," ticketing counters opened on the ground floor and a dining hall was fitted out on the upper floor; the building has been adapted to house two restaurants, including a Rostic's.[4][5] The second establishment was planned to open by the New Year.[2] The "Chardymov House," as a protected heritage site, has been adapted for kitchen and storage use; access will be restricted to staff only.[4]

At the opening, Gleb Nikitin noted that both buildings "had substantially shaped the overall development of Sennaya Square" and had been in an unacceptable state for recent decades.[1] Deputy Governor Yegor Polyakov and Sergey Barinov led a press tour of the restored structures.[3]

Sources

  1. Vremya N — Restoration of the "Chardymov House" completed in Nizhny Novgorod
  2. Vremya N — A view from the inside: two historic houses restored on Sennaya Square
  3. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Photo report: what the restored "Chardymov House" and "Samgin House" look like
  4. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — From the ashes to a new life: how the Chardymov and Samgin houses on Sennaya were restored — to a new life: how the Chardymov and Samgin houses on Sennaya were restored. News of Nizhny…
  5. Newsroom24 — More than 150 million rubles invested in the restoration of the houses on Sennaya
  6. Biznes News. Vremya Zarabatyvat — Investor puts more than 150 million rubles into the restoration of the Chardymov and Samgin houses in Nizhny Novgorod — Business News. Time…