The building at Darvina Street, 9, which houses the Kharkiv Regional Branch of the National Union of Architects of Ukraine, is one of the street’s main attractions.
Its uniqueness lies in its superbly preserved original interiors, which is an extremely rare occurrence in Kharkiv.
The Neo-Renaissance mansion was built in 1911–1912.
The project was designed by architect Viktor Velychko.
The mansion was commissioned by the merchant Pavlo Ryzhov, known for his factory that manufactured church bells. It was located near Pisochyn.
Bells bearing the surname of the Ryzhov dynasty (of which Pavel Ivanovich was by no means the first) can still be seen in the courtyard of the Pokrovsky Monastery.
The bell tower of the Dormition Cathedral housed a 16-tonne bell from the Ryzhov factory, whilst the Kuriazhsky Transfiguration Monastery held a 32-tonne bell from the same factory. However, Ryzhov’s business was by no means limited to bells – he was also renowned for his production and trade in paints, whitewash, iron goods, saddlery and electrical goods.
Beneath the balcony on the façade, there was once a fountain featuring a sculpture of a lion.
Банкетна зала:
Several canvas panels have been preserved in the building. Particularly noteworthy is the panel in the banquet hall depicting a hunting scene, which apparently features the Ryzhovs on horseback.
The chandeliers and fittings of the mansion were manufactured at the Ryzhov factory.
Behind the mansion was a small garden with a rotunda, which by the late 2010s had ended up on the site of a new business centre next door, so it was restored.
The mansion was registered in the name of Valeria Oleksandrivna, the wife of Pavlo Ryzhov.
Source: V. Chornomorets, ‘History of the Pisochynska Settlement’
After the arrival of Soviet power, the building housed the Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counterrevolution, Speculation and Sabotage, followed by the First All-Ukrainian Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. The mansion became the Architect’s House in 1934.
In the lobby of the Architect’s House, you can find an interesting artefact – a model of the reconstruction project for Freedom Square from the 1940s–1950s. Here you can see numerous unrealised buildings and even the Victory Column in the centre of the circular square, which was never actually built.
In the 2000s, many Kharkiv residents knew the location of the Architect’s House thanks to Churchill’s Music Pub, which was situated in the mansion’s basement and was remembered for concerts by Kharkiv music groups and literary slams.
As a result of Russian missile strikes on Kharkiv in 2022, many of the mansion’s original windows, which had survived two World Wars, were shattered. In August 2023, a fire broke out in the basement, seriously damaging the rear of the building and its roof.