The building of the V.I. Truveller estate.

Vasily Ivanovich (Wilhelm) Truveller was an engineer who built the locks of the Paper Factory in Peterhof, a military training camp, created city maps, cut through new streets, and participated in the construction of the Nikolsky House. In 1834, he was allocated a large plot on the northern shore of Okhotny Ryad. Here, Truveller built two stone houses and baths, later a bathing house on the shore of Olgin Pond, and then a wooden building of the "Samson" hotel.

In 1845, Truveller learned that Nicholas I had decided to buy back the island and expressed a desire to return it as a gift, but the emperor did not accept the present. The island was purchased, and the emperor ordered a pavilion to be built on it for his daughter, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna. The construction was entrusted to architect Shtakenshneid.

In 1900, this building housed a telephone exchange. It was a two-story mansion with a three-story observation tower and a pointed arch connecting it to a small wing. This building was constructed in 1834-36 and was given as a dowry for his daughter Vera. The young couple settled in the mansion, while the stone corner house (St. Petersburg Avenue, 42) was rented out as apartments and various commercial establishments. Previously, a wooden "Samson" hotel stood between these houses, forming a continuous development typical of cities.

Sources:

https://spb.falktime.ru/dom-truvellera-petergof/

https://www.citywalls.ru/house19437.html