For most Ukrainians, the “House with Chimeras” is associated with the building designed by architect Gorodetsky on Bankova Street in Kyiv.

But not for the residents of Kharkiv, who have their own House with Chimeras.

Although it has fewer decorative elements, this house is no less interesting. The building was constructed between 1912 and 1914 at Chernyshevska Street, 79.

The design for this Art Nouveau-style house with elements of Gothic Revival architecture was created by V. Pokrovsky and P. Velichko for the Pokrovsky Sisters’ Girls’ Gymnasium (the architect Vladimir Pokrovsky was their brother).

Incidentally, in 1910, the first official soccer match in Kharkiv was held in the courtyard of what would later become a gymnasium. During the Soviet era, the building housed School No. 62, which was replaced by a school for working-class youth in the 1960s.

By the 1970s, the House with Chimeras had fallen into severe disrepair, was declared unsafe, and stood abandoned for about 15 years. A restoration project was developed under the direction of V. Novgorodov in the 1980s by specialists from the Kharkiv Comprehensive Architectural and Restoration Workshop. The lost decorative elements of the facade were restored by architect L. Derunskaya. The building was transferred to the Theater Department of the Kharkiv University of Arts, and students also took an active part in its restoration.

The house is adorned with several wondrous creatures: birds, wolves, griffins, and monkeys with human bodies—which remind some people of Gollum, a character from Tolkien’s *Lord of the Rings* series. There are knights here as well.

The students paint the monkey’s toenails from time to time.

On the ground floor, there are sculptures by the building’s creators—P. Velichko (a sculpture of a young man) and V. Pokrovsky (a sculpture of an elderly man with a book).

The House with Chimeras in Kharkiv is a masterpiece of harmonious and refined style, and a true source of pride for our city.

You really understand that when you see the house in person.