The mansion of Boguslav Heydenreich on Tchaikovsky Street

The author and first owner of the building was the architect of Latvian origin, Boguslav Heydenreich. He shrewdly registered the property under his wife Alexandra, née von Dingelstedt. By the time of the house’s construction (1860-1861), Boguslav had already earned a significant amount; he built income houses for private clients and served as an architect in the Department of Projects and Estimates of the Main Directorate of Railways and Public Buildings. For reasons unknown to us, the family sold the mansion in 1868. The buyer was Evdokia Apraksina, the wife of the wealthy aristocrat and court stable master—Count Ivan Apraksin. The mansion was purchased as a gift to celebrate the marriage of their eldest daughter Maria.

The building is designed in the Romanesque Renaissance architectural style. Tall arches spanning two floors (the second and third), resting on columns with faceted Romanesque capitals. The upper cornice is decorated with a dense row of arches stylized as battlements of cross walls. The central part of the building is slightly set back from the red line. On the sides, two massive risalites protrude with ornate window frames at the second-floor level, above which are the family coats of arms of the owners (the Raevsky family) featuring a swan. From the interiors, a stone grand staircase to the second floor and the vestibule have survived to this day. The vestibule appears relatively modest, with rusticated walls decorated with stucco medallions. The main decoration is the grand staircase to the second floor, executed in the Neo-Baroque style. Here you can notice figures of atlantes and caryatids, putti figures, and lush Baroque window frames. The entire space is illuminated by a large skylight. Tall arches resting on fluted columns with faceted Romanesque capitals encompass the second and third floors. The upper cornice is adorned with dense machicolation arches. The windows of the side risalites have massive rusticated frames, above which are coats of arms under a knight’s helmet, with lions as shield bearers.

In 1868, the mansion was purchased by Countess Evdokia Nikolaevna Apraksina, née Nebolsina, wife of the stable master Apraksin. She gifted it to her daughter Maria Ivanovna. Maria Ivanovna Apraksina married Count Ippolit Chernyshev-Kruglikov, a colonel, aide-de-camp, and later general aide-de-camp to Alexander II, whom Sergey Sheremetev noted in his diaries: “Chernyshev was a good-natured man but did not have a reputation for sobriety and was known for his wild behavior when drunk.” Ippolit, apparently, was not an exemplary family man. His wife, like our heroine from previous chapters, Princess Vera Gagarina, turned to religion and became a fervent follower of the founders of the evangelical movement in Russia—Grenville Redstock, and after his departure, joined the circle of evangelists led by Vasily Pashkov.

M. I. Chernysheva-Kruglikova soon, in 1874, sold the house to a first guild merchant, state councilor Abram Isaakovich Zak, a Jewish banker and advisor to the Russian government on banking and economic matters. In the mansion, he hosted lavish receptions where the best representatives of Russian Jewry often performed, including the great composer and friend of the owner—Anton Rubinstein.

Shortly before Abram Zak’s death, his heirs hurried to resell the mansion to new owners.

In 1890, the mansion was acquired by Major General M. N. Raevsky, a friend of Pushkin’s acquaintance and descendant of a famous military family. The facade of the house was adorned with the Raevsky coat of arms featuring a swan. By this time, the former military officer and participant in the Russo-Turkish War had entered government service, becoming a member of the Council of the Minister of State Property and president of the Imperial Society of Gardening. Most of his time was spent improving his family estates in the Kherson province and on the southern coast of Crimea. In Alushta, Mikhail Raevsky managed to build the huge Karavan palace with exemplary gardens and parks. After the owner’s death, until the revolution, the mansion was occupied by his widow—Princess Maria Raevskaya (née Gagarina). After the revolution, she fled to France and settled in Nice. In exile, she was a member of the Ladies’ Society in memory of Empress Maria Feodorovna. She lived to the age of 90, having survived World War II and passing away in 1941, thus outliving half of her children.

The bank currently occupying the building has carried out renovations; the floors are covered with modern tiles. The walls have been paneled, and some halls partitioned with numerous dividers—now there are many small offices. In some places, however, old wall sconces and chandeliers remain.

The building’s vestibule is in decent condition, while the courtyard part of the building is occupied by the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Saint Petersburg.

Sources:

https://vladpitergid.com/blog/geydenreyhvtb

https://www.citywalls.ru/house2586.html