Stakheev Mansion

On Novaya Basmannaya Street in Moscow stands an amazing building that seems to transport visitors to the era of merchant luxury of the late 19th century. The Stakheev Mansion, built by architect M.F. Bugrovsky in 1898–1899, is a true jewel box that has preserved its splendor to this day.

History of the Mansion’s Construction

The client for this luxurious residence was Nikolai Dmitrievich Stakheev, a representative of a well-known merchant dynasty, a gold miner, and a tea trader. Construction cost the owner a colossal sum — one million rubles, which at that time was an enormous fortune. For comparison, the average monthly salary of an employee was only 80 rubles. Architect Mikhail Bugrovsky already had experience working with Stakheev, having built several income houses for him in Moscow. The talented sculptor V.G. Gladkov was invited to decorate the interiors, creating truly unique spaces.

Eclectic Architectural Style

The building is executed in an eclectic style with façades in the Neo-Greek manner. The mansion is adorned with magnificent sculptures, and in front of the entrance stands a luxurious marble fountain with an elegant cast-iron sculpture “Goddess of the Night”, made in Paris. The figure of the girl holds an electric lamp in her hands, which was an advanced technical solution for the late 19th century.

Luxurious Interiors of the Mansion

The main feature of the house is that each room is designed in its own distinct style. There is a legend that when the architect asked Stakheev in which style the mansion should be built, he replied: “In all of them! I have enough money for everything.”

Grand Staircase and Greek Hall

From the entrance begins a majestic white marble staircase leading to a hall in the Greek style. The room is decorated with columns and pilasters made of pink artificial marble. Special attention is drawn to the sphinx-shaped lamps and torch-like wall lights set into niches.

Gothic Hall

The dining room in the Gothic style amazes with its delicate wood carving. The walls and coffered ceiling are covered with exquisite carved woodwork. The hall features a unique chandelier with a height-adjustment mechanism, as well as a working fireplace with magnificent decoration.

Moorish Smoking Room

Every centimeter of the walls and ceiling of this room is covered with three-dimensional Eastern ornamentation. Solid slabs of rare stone varieties, including natural jasper, were used to create the window reveals. The richness of the relief walls creates a unique atmosphere of the East.

White Hall and Rococo-Style Room

The spacious ceremonial White Hall is decorated with a magnificent ceiling featuring a plafond. Behind one of the mirrors is hidden a secret lift for servants — an astonishing innovation for a two-story house of that era. The Rococo-style room delights with refined furniture and a unique table with atlantes holding baskets of food.

Technical Innovations of the Mansion

Stakheev spared no expense on advanced technologies. The house was equipped with an air conditioning system: in winter, warm air was circulated through the rooms, and in summer, cold air. Ice was specially stored in the basement for cooling. The mansion was fitted with electric lighting, which was rare at the time. The owner had six telephone numbers, while telephone communication was far from available to every wealthy household.

The Owner of the Mansion — Nikolai Dmitrievich Stakheev

Nikolai Stakheev was born in the city of Yelabuga into a merchant family. His mother was the sister of the famous artist Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, so from childhood the future merchant was immersed in a creative environment and had a good understanding of art. The Stakheevs traded grain, tea, timber, and owned gold mines and oil fields. After his father’s death, Nikolai Dmitrievich managed to increase the capital eightfold. After moving to Moscow, he began buying old mansions and building multi-story houses, which brought enormous profits.

Lifestyle of a Millionaire Merchant

Stakheev led a luxurious lifestyle: he traveled extensively, hosted balls, and was a regular at casinos in Monte Carlo. There was a legend that when rumors spread about Stakheev’s arrival, casino stakes rose several times. His losses sometimes reached ten million rubles. At the same time, the merchant did not forget about charity, annually allocating up to one million rubles for charitable purposes.

Fate of the Mansion After the Revolution

In 1917, the mansion was nationalized and transferred to railway workers. It housed the Dzerzhinsky Railway Workers’ Club, later the Business Club of Transport Workers. In 1940, the building was given to the Central House of Railway Workers’ Children.

Legend of Stakheev’s Treasure

There is an intriguing legend: before World War I, Stakheev left for France, but in 1918 he returned to Moscow to retrieve silver and jewelry from a secret hiding place. On the street, he was stopped by militia members and taken for questioning to Dzerzhinsky. Stakheev proposed a deal: he would reveal the location of the hidden valuables in exchange for a pension. The deal was made, and the recovered treasures were used to build the Railway Workers’ Palace of Culture on Komsomolskaya Square. According to one version, Nikolai Stakheev became the prototype of Kisa Vorobyaninov from the novel by Ilf and Petrov “The Twelve Chairs.”

The Mansion Today

The overwhelming majority of the interiors have survived to the present day almost without alterations. The house retains unique inlaid parquet floors made of precious wood species, stained-glass windows, silk wallpapers, marble, and stucco décor. Many famous artists began their creative careers in this building, including Oleg Dal, Maya Kristalinskaya, Lyudmila Chursina, Svetlana Varguzova, and Valentina Tolkunova.

Modern Use

Today, the mansion is under the authority of the Ministry of Culture. The halls are used for events, television programs, and film shoots. The popular TV show “Battle of the Psychics” is filmed here. In the non-ceremonial part of the house, children’s clubs and studios continue to operate. Guided tours are regularly held for visitors, during which one can see all the splendor of the interiors: the Gothic hall with a carved sideboard, the Moorish smoking room with Eastern ornaments, the winter garden with a transparent glass ceiling, and the reception room with the finest wood carving.

Architectural Value

The Stakheev Mansion is a federally significant cultural heritage site of the peoples of Russia. The building is a vivid example of late 19th-century eclecticism, demonstrating the merchant scale and aspiration for luxury of that era. The estate garden, which was located behind the mansion, was incorporated into the Baumann Garden in the 1920s. The ruin grotto “Belvedere,” located in the garden, has been preserved. Visiting the Stakheev Mansion on Novaya Basmannaya is an opportunity to touch the history of Moscow’s merchant class, see the luxury of a bygone era, and appreciate the craftsmanship of architects and artisans of the late 19th century. Each room here tells its own story, and the magnificence of the décor continues to impress modern visitors.