Mansion Brusnitsy

In 1844, the house was acquired by Nikolai Mokeevich Brusnitsin, a peasant who came from the Tver province. In 1847 he created a leather workshop, which at first was small (only 10 people worked there) and engaged in tanning leather. Soon the illiterate, but enterprising peasant did a good job: he became a merchant, he had a large large family, and the workshop expanded to become a large factory with 600 workers.

In 1857, according to the project of the architect A. S. Andreev, on the west side, a three-axis volume was added to the building. In the 1860s, he also increased the windows of the first floor and the height of the second floor, changed the front facade .

In 1882, the mansion passed to the sons of Nikolai Mokeevich Brusnitsyn: Nikolai , Alexander and George. Two years later, three brothers decided to rebuild the parental home. The restructuring was entrusted to the architect Anatoly Ivanovich Kovsharov . The house received a new interior decoration . The second floor was again upgraded. On the east side for the main staircase to the building added an extension in one axis. From the courtyard was organized a winter garden. The front facade was built under one ledge . It was during this restructuring that the building received its current look. The mansion acquired the shape of the letter "W". In the revolution, the brothers Nikolai and George emigrated, Alexander stayed in Petrograd and continued to work at the plant as chief engineer and chairman of the plant management board. On the night of May 28, 1919 , according to the order of the Emergency Commission on Combating Counter-Revolution, Alexander Brusnitsyn was arrested in his apartment at the factory, in house 27 on the Kozhevennaya Line, and imprisoned. In June 1920, the corporation of workers and employees of the tannery transmitted a statement to the Cheka with a petition for release. Later, at the request of the legal department of the Moscow Political Red Cross, Alexander Nikolaevich Brusnitsyn was released.

After 1917 the mansion began to belong to the tannery named after A.N. Radishchev . It housed the plant management. In the 1925-1930s, a vestibule and a checkpoint were arranged on the site of the gate. In 1993, the White Hall and the dining room were restored. Currently, the premises that have preserved historical interiors are leased to private firms or not used.

The main ceremonial rooms are concentrated in the eastern half of the building; a suite layout is used here.

Most of the historic interiors have been lost. Among the surviving:

Front dining room , decorated in the style of the late Renaissance . Almost all the furniture preserved in the room is authentic. Particularly impressive is the stucco coffered ceiling, painted under wood and in harmony with wooden wall panels and doors. The large bronze chandelier and wall sconces on the walls are also authentic. Initially, candles were used for lighting, subsequently replaced by electricity. Also in the front dining room a beautifully carved wooden cupboard has been preserved in its original form. The walls are decorated with wooden oak carved panels of handmade, very valuable (among these panels to the left of the buffet is a disguised secret door leading to the billiard room). Wooden doors are decorated with carved ornaments and ram heads (the ram is a symbol of trade). The walls were previously covered with thin light skin. The window and doorways are trimmed with dark wood. There are no windows facing the street in the dining room. Engraved glass in the windows and doors of the dining room overlooked the winter garden (greenhouse). At one time, in the center of this large but cozy dining room, there was a huge oval oak table, surrounded by leather chairs for 60 people. A merchant family, colleagues and friends of entrepreneurs gathered and celebrated at the table.

The dance hall , which is sometimes also called the White Hall (the door leading to the winter garden leads to the hall). Dazzlingly elegant room is richly decorated with white stucco with gilding. The white hall is decorated in the style of Louis XV . Smooth transition from the vertical plane of the walls to the horizontal plane of the ceiling forms a two-tier stucco padug . It rounds the corners and gives the interior a special plasticity and picturesqueness. The walls, doors and the ceiling of the White Hall are completely covered with stucco with floral ornaments , wreaths, musical instruments, cupids and women's heads. A large space on the walls is occupied by stucco panels depicting vases, flowers and satyr figures with pipes and other musical instruments. Molded panels on the walls alternate with paired fluted pilasters , in the capitals of which lyres are inscribed. The room is preserved solid, without binding window frames with very thick glass, as well as marble window sills. In addition, the hall attracts the attention of a huge chandelier with crystal pendants. Perfectly preserved marble fireplace . In the central part of the fireplace are decorated with sculptures kissing putti , two more amurchik sit on the sides, supporting hanging marble garlands of difficult work. Two cabinets on the sides of the fireplace , originally intended for vases of flowers. A sculpted frame in the form of a wreath entwined with ribbons is placed above the figured fireplace shelf. A genuine mirror has been preserved in the frame. The location of the mirror, as well as in other rooms of the mansion, was specially chosen so that visitors could see in it a reflection of the magnificent chandelier and ceiling.

A small smoking room with a beautifully preserved luxurious decor adjoins the White Hall. This is one of the most valuable premises of the house. According to the fashion of that time, the hookah room is decorated in the eastern Moorish style. The dome of the smoking room has been preserved, as well as a small corner bay window with elegant semi-columns. The walls and the dome of this "Moorish casket" are decorated with brightly painted plaster molding with gilding. A unique antique chandelier made of glass and brass is covered with oriental drawings and inscriptions. Chandelier is reflected in the mirror, which visually increases the space of the room. On the walls of the smoking small- cut script there is a repeating inscription “Glory to Allah ”.

Marble front staircase, going from the first floor of the mansion, from the now boarded up main entrance. There are no lamps here, but the staircase is well lit by daylight. Very valuable marble steps have been preserved, and handcrafted marble handrails are also marble. The ceiling and walls are completely covered with molding with abundant floral ornament, female heads and caryatids . At the top of the stairs, under the window you can see a marble fireplace in fairly strict forms. The window above it is turned into a greenhouse (winter garden), which was once filled with greenery, flowers and even fruit trees. A semicircular bay window faces the garden adjacent to the house. In the bay window on the landing near the fireplace once there was a chair, and the visitors' feet were sunk in carpets.

Living room. The living room is impressively decorated in cozy, warm brownish tones. Once there were several similar living rooms in the mansion, they were enfling along the main facade along the Kozhevennaya line. In the design of the living room shows the influence of the Rococo style . The walls are divided into separate panels with gilt stucco frames of curved outlines. The same gilded stucco pattern can be seen on the doors and framed mirrors. In the intervals between the panels, vertical inserts with a stucco pattern and an openwork grid are placed. Paduga room is decorated with floral ornaments, shells and figures of whelps. The magnificent living room ceiling is also richly decorated with stucco, including grid-like patterns that echo the gilded mesh of wall stucco and ventilation grilles in the ceiling of the ceiling. The room has a genuine chandelier. It is especially noteworthy that the walls of the living room are tightened with genuine silk ( damask ) more than a century ago. Mirrors placed opposite each other create the illusion of infinity perspective. Mirrors are also available in the bay window, located in the center of the main facade of the building.

Billiard room (Red room), which can be accessed from the greenhouse or dining room (from the dining room here is already mentioned secret door). The stucco ceiling under a tree survived in the room, as well as a powerful bronze chandelier with a special handle that allowed it to be lowered over the table. The billiard table itself has been lost, but the rest of the room has been preserved, including built-in corner sofas with genuine upholstery, two billiard accessories, a door, and a carved fireplace. The bottom of the walls is lined with panels, the upper part is covered with fabric. Once there was a luxurious curtain in the billiard room , which, thanks to its special density, did not miss a single ray of light from the neighboring greenhouse.

The mystery of the “ Dracula 's Mirror”, beloved by Petersburgers, is connected with the mansion. Here is its content. In the mansion a mirror was delivered at the beginning of the 20th century from Italy . It seemed to hang in one of the Venetian palaces , where the ashes of Count Dracula were kept. It is said that those who looked in the mirror experienced strange sensations, and then terrible things happened to these people. The beginning of the rumors was put by the sudden death of the merchant's granddaughter, the daughter of a leather breeder, as well as the constant poor health of family members. Because of these events, the mirror was hidden in the pantry. After the revolution, the mystical piece of furniture was in the Palace of Culture named after SM Kirov, and later, by decision of the Committee on State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, was returned to the mansion and hung in the office of the deputy director of the plant. After a while, he disappeared without a trace and mysteriously. One worker, who saw his reflection in an ominous mirror, also suddenly disappeared. Then the cabinet was pounded at all, they were forbidden to enter it, the plant management was moved to a new building.

• The film "Mansion brothers Brusnitsa. Eclectic Interiors. ”
• Photos of interiors
• Mansion Brusnitsyh on the website "Petersburg. Tour guide."