The mansion of Nikolai Somov, a professor, nobleman, and ornithologist, located at Maksymilianivska Street, 11, is sometimes referred to as the “gingerbread house” (as is Selivanov’s apartment building at Hryhoriia Skovorody Street, 19).

It was built in 1901 according to a design by Oleksiy Beketov.

The house still has its original window frames with beautiful carved designs.

The corner turret is also worth noting. The entire mansion was built in this eclectic style, which blends elements of Romanticism and Gothic architecture.

Unfortunately, the roof of the main tower was removed during renovations to the building in the 1990s.

Its condition was deemed critical, but at the time, neither the resources nor the specialists needed for its restoration could be found.

Professor Somov lived on the second floor (where his zoological collection was kept), while the first floor was rented out.

The Kharkiv Medical Society is currently located in the former mansion.

Maksymilianivska Street itself was named in 1891 in honor of Court Counselor Maximilian Raupach (not to be confused with Maximilian Gelferich, whose monument was erected on the street in 2019). From the 1920s onward, the street was named after the revolutionary Mikhail Olminsky; in 2016, the street was given back its historical name.

“The Avifauna of the Kharkiv Governorate” is an example of a work by Professor Nikolai Somov, published in Kharkiv in 1897 by Adolf Darre’s printing house at Moskovskaya Street, 19 (now Heroes of Kharkiv Avenue).

The house was damaged by a Russian missile strike on January 23, 2024; the blast wave shattered its beautiful windows.