Everyone who has passed through Strelna multiple times has seen the large sandy-colored neo-Gothic mansion standing near the Peterhof highway on the edge of a natural escarpment. This is the former palace of Prince Lvov, one of the prominent and beautiful palaces of Strelna. Although the palace itself fits organically into the modern surroundings and is only about one and a half centuries old, the lands on which it was built have long been owned by various people.

Until 1477, all the lands from Peterhof to Strelna, including the site where the Lvov Palace now proudly stands, belonged to the Novgorod posadnik Zakhar Grigorievich Ovinov, and then to his son Ivan. In 1501, they were listed as belonging to the Moscow voivode Afanasy Vasilyevich Besstuzhev.

On Swedish maps from the second half of the 17th century, the place of the palace is marked as the village Kennolota (Kennolota), which (like the entire area up to Martyshkin since the 1620s) was granted in fief to the Swedish governors of Ingria (the entire modern Russian southern coast of the gulf). In the 1630s, Johann Skitte, the first governor of Ingria living in the area of the current Strelna travel palace, planned to build the city of Joagannestal on his estate. And who knows, if he had not been deterred by the marshy wet soil, floods, and abundance of mosquitoes, the territory of the future Lvov estate might have been included in the city. From the 1710s, this area was incorporated into the lands of the famous imperial residence. Even on the 1803 plan, a "Parade Ground" is shown here.

Apparently, military parades were held here, which the then owner of Strelna, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, was a great enthusiast of. Not loving his father and trying to suppress manifestations of his father's impulsive temperament, he nevertheless inherited from him a passionate love for military marching.

But already in 1804, the lands of the future estate were granted to the English merchant Jones, and then passed to collegiate councilor Zeland, who built a wooden house there with a cruciform plan and two side wings.

In 1838, the estate was acquired by General-Adjutant Pavel Konstantinovich Alexandrov, the illegitimate son of the Strelna owner Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. The estate was named "Alexandrovka" after the Alexandrov family.

In the same year, a stone palace was erected on the site of the wooden manor house according to the design of the capital architect Kolman, which has survived to this day. Apparently, at the same time, a cellar that still exists was built to the east of the palace. The palace itself was designed in the then very popular neo-Gothic style. At the same time, the architectural solution of the palace was original for its time: despite the overall layout of the building in the shape of a perfect "T," its main part is asymmetrical, which was not yet typical for early eclecticism, which still inherited at least strictly symmetrical facade layouts from earlier times.

After Alexandrov's death, the estate passed to his widow, née Shcherbatova, who outlived her husband by 12 years and died in 1869.

The next and last owner of the estate was Alexandrov's grandson, the "fiery prince" Alexander Dmitrievich Lvov, a fire-fighting enthusiast whose name is now associated with the palace.

As early as 1880 (when he was only 17 years old), Lvov created the first voluntary "fire extinguishing" team in Russia here. In 1883, he built the first local fire station building in Strelna on the estate with an 8-sazhen (about 17 meters) fire tower, which was replaced four years later by a 12-sazhen (about 25.5 meters) tower that he himself liked to climb with a spyglass. Today, a commemorative sign has been installed by the Strelna enthusiasts' society at the site of the tower (which was irretrievably lost during the fascist occupation).

In 1887, Lvov established contact with another well-known fire-fighting enthusiast, Alexander Dmitrievich Sheremetev, owner of the Ulyanka estate. In 1890, Lvov published the book "Urban Fire Brigades," which was the first publication of its kind.

In 1892, Lvov was elected chairman of the newly founded Russian Fire Society. In 1919, this organization suffered— it was disbanded, accused of disagreement with Soviet power. However, the fire tower built by Lvov was used for a long time afterward.

In the 1910s, Lvov donated part of his estate on the highway side for the construction of the turning loop of the Organella (Oranienbaum Electric Railway Line), now tram route No. 36. Subsequently, after the tram tracks were destroyed by the fascists, the loop was moved east, beyond the Kikenka River.

At the same time, the old tram loop played a certain role in the history of the Leningrad blockade. When in 1941 the German troops advancing from the west to Leningrad first approached the old Lvov palace in Strelna, they saw a tram standing in front of it and reported to their high command that they had reached the city outskirts (although at that time the city barely reached Avtovo). This gave our troops at least a day to repel the advancing enemy.

As for the palace, after the revolution it stood empty for some time. It is probably the one mentioned in the story by Belykh and Panteleev "The Republic of ShKID" as an abandoned Strelna aristocratic dacha, handed over by the regional education department to "ShKID" for the summer rest of the pupils.

During the 1941-44 fascist occupation of Strelna, the palace was severely damaged, and its interior was irreversibly spoiled and looted. After the war and until now, it has housed a residential building. The old park also suffered, with only the old cellar and several ancient oaks (mainly on the upper terrace) surviving. Meanwhile, the park area has become wild and is partially being built up with private houses approaching the palace itself. Therefore, nowadays the park is no longer perceived as a park; from the viewpoint of an ordinary observer, the palace stands alone in a small garden at the edge of the ravine on the upper terrace.

The palace building was restored in the 1950s. From 2013 to 2015, the palace underwent another restoration. On August 17, 2013, a monument to Prince Alexander Lvov was unveiled in front of the Lvov Palace.

Currently, the palace houses the municipal council and local administration of the municipal formation "Settlement of Strelna" and Children's Music School No. 42.

Sources:

http://www.nogardia.ru/articles/show/3/

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Львовский_дворец