There are many magnificent mansions on the English Embankment, but one of the most remarkable is the former mansion of Countess A. G. Laval. In the time of Peter I, the plot belonged to A. D. Menshikov, the first governor-general of Saint Petersburg. In 1719, a stone house was built here. After Menshikov was exiled to Berezov, all his property, including this house, was confiscated in favor of the state.

At the beginning of the 18th century, on the site of the house, there was a stone building belonging to A. D. Menshikov. After him, the owner of the plot became Count A. I. Osterman, vice-chancellor of Empress Anna Ioannovna. Count A. I. Osterman, the new owner, planned to build a new house here and enlisted the outstanding Russian architect P. M. Yeropkin for this purpose.

On the site of Menshikov’s house, Pyotr Mikhailovich Yeropkin built a two-story stone house on a high plinth. The facade of the house faced the Neva River. The central risalit with three window openings was decorated with continuous horizontal rustication and topped with a pediment.

In 1741, after a coup d'état, A. I. Osterman was arrested and sent into exile in Berezov. A few years later, Elizabeth Petrovna gifted the house to V. F. Saltykov; then for some time the building belonged to Senator N. E. Muravyov. At the end of the 18th century, the house on the English Embankment passed into the possession of Baron Grigory Stroganov. He commissioned A. N. Voronikhin to expand and update the building to meet the demands of the time.

V. F. Saltykov received the house as a gift from Elizabeth Petrovna in 1743; for some time the building belonged to Senator N. E. Muravyov, and from the last quarter of the 18th century, it passed into the possession of the Stroganovs.

Between 1791 and 1793, Voronikhin rebuilt the building, preserving part of the walls of the old house. The house became three stories tall. Its central part, which projected forward, was decorated with four pilasters. The main entrance featured a four-column portico supporting a balcony.

On July 14, 1800, the house was purchased by Countess Alexandra Grigorievna Laval. At her request, from 1806 to 1809, Thomas de Thomon rebuilt the building again, increasing the width of the main body and installing lion figures on the porch, possibly made according to Voronikhin’s designs

(this assumption is based not only on the fact that Voronikhin carried out the previous reconstruction of the building but also on the comparison of this pair of lions with others similar in material and appearance that decorate many of Voronikhin’s buildings). The lions, like the second-floor balconies, are made of rapakivi granite (experts note that the structure of the stone, weathered due to its complex shape, is clearly visible on these figures). Instead of the portico of the main entrance and the corresponding risalit, a new one with nine windows was erected. The 2nd and 3rd floors were decorated with ten three-quarter Ionic columns. At the level of the second floor, the facade featured three-part windows with triangular pediments (sandriks), and instead of the third-floor windows, sculptural panels with antique themes were placed. Three balconies were added. After 1872, the wings were rebuilt once again.

The main body was expanded, and lion figures, likely made according to Voronikhin’s sketches, were installed on the porch. These lions, like the second-floor balconies, are made of rapakivi granite. Instead of the portico of the main entrance and the corresponding risalit, a new one consisting of nine windows was built. The second and third floors were decorated with ten three-quarter Ionic columns. At the level of the second floor of the facade, three-part windows with triangular pediments (sandriks) were made, and instead of the third-floor windows, sculptural panels with antique themes were placed. Three balconies were also added. The staircase in the house was designed as a rotunda and is considered one of Thomas de Thomon’s finest creations.

Joseph de Maistre wrote: “The best work of our friend Thomas de Thomon, his granite staircase, is probably the most beautiful in Petersburg.”

The building housed a hall-museum of classical antiquities, an exhibition hall, a small dining room, a marble hall, and a music salon. The living quarters were located on the lower floor and in the wings. The furniture and other furnishings were created specifically for each interior, and the floors were made from rare wood species. The library contained five thousand volumes. The Laval collection included works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Ruisdael, Lorrain, Albani, Guercino, and others, as well as ancient Egyptian and antique art. Part of the collection has been housed in the Hermitage since 1852.

Of the interiors designed by Thomas de Thomon, the Vestibule and the Grand Staircase have been preserved. In 1818, the architect N. Charpentier additionally created the Large (Pompeian) Hall and decorated the Library room with grisaille painting. The ceiling of the Main Dining Room was also painted in grisaille technique, with images dedicated to the cult of Bacchus. The Vestibule features Doric order columns and pilasters without bases; the circular staircase room is covered by a coffered dome with a central skylight, decorated with molded stars and rosettes. The second-floor rooms are decorated with paintings, stucco, and artificial marble. Artists Barnaba Medici and S. A. Bessonov worked on the ceiling of the Large Hall. The ceiling and pendentives of the hall were repainted in Pompeian style in the 1830s, presumably according to a project by A. P. Bryullov. The decoration of the Blue Drawing Room was carried out in the 1840s according to the designs of architect G. A. Bosse. After 1872, S. S. Polyakov altered the decoration of several halls, including the Blue Drawing Room. During Prussakov’s reconstruction, new corridors and skylights were added to the building, and part of the ceremonial rooms were rearranged. The width of the flights of the Grand Staircase was reduced to create a bypass gallery, the garden with a fountain in the inner courtyard was destroyed, and the interior paintings were restored.

Balls were held at the Laval house, attended even by members of the imperial family. Visitors included N. I. Gnedich, I. A. Krylov, V. A. Zhukovsky, P. A. Vyazemsky, Adam Mickiewicz, and N. M. Karamzin. Guests discussed European news and used the library. On March 10, 1816, N. M. Karamzin read unpublished chapters of the “History of the Russian State” here, hoping that the visitors of the Laval salon would help with their publication. After graduating from the Lyceum, A. S. Pushkin began visiting the house. In 1819, he read the ode “Liberty” here. The writer reflected his memories of the balls at the house in the description of the ball in the novel “Eugene Onegin.”

At musical evenings at the Lavals’, famous performers of the time, Rubini and Tamburini, performed. “Picture soirées” were also held here — these were living pictures created with the participation of both guests and the mansion’s owners. Ekaterina Ivanovna, daughter of Alexandra Grigorievna and Ivan Stepanovich, was especially well known. She married Prince S. P. Trubetskoy. The wedding took place in May 1821 in Paris. After their honeymoon, the newlyweds settled in the Laval house in the autumn of the same year.

They occupied rooms on the first floor, to the right of the main entrance. The windows of the prince’s study faced the Neva. Thus, this address in Petersburg was one of the most important for the Decembrists. The role of Prince Trubetskoy in the Decembrist movement cannot be overestimated.

He became one of the first founders of the first secret Decembrist society — the Union of Salvation. He was involved in drafting the “Manifesto to the Russian People,” which became the programmatic document of the December 14 uprising. It is still unknown why he did not appear before the rebellious regiments on Senate Square.

After the uprising, a search was conducted in the house, during which a dismantled printing press and manifesto drafts were found. The next morning, Trubetskoy was arrested. Six months later, the Supreme Criminal Court sentenced Prince Trubetskoy to lifelong penal servitude.

 On July 24, 1826, Ekaterina Ivanovna left her home and followed her husband to Siberia. Other Decembrists’ wives followed her example.

In 1827, the Lavals revived the tradition of hosting social evenings. Their house once again became the most popular salon in Petersburg. From early 1828, the highest society gathered here again. Every Saturday, prominent figures of literature and art met in this house.

The literary salon in Petersburg gathered exiled Decembrists, their relatives, and close friends. Here they read letters received from Siberia. In 1832, P. A. Vyazemsky read the guests an unpublished eighth chapter of “Eugene Onegin.”

On February 16, 1840, at a ball in the Laval mansion, the famous conversation took place between M. Y. Lermontov and Ernest de Barante, son of the French ambassador. It was there that de Barante challenged the poet to a duel, which led to Lermontov’s exile from Petersburg to the Caucasus.

After the hostess’s death in 1850, the Laval house passed to her middle daughter Sofia. When serfdom was abolished, her family’s fortune significantly declined. Sofia and her husband, Privy Councillor Alexander Mikhailovich Borch, tried to improve their financial situation by building a revenue house on Galernaya Street. But this did not help, and in the 1880s, the entire property was sold to millionaire and entrepreneur S. S. Polyakov. The new owner sought to preserve the mansion’s grandeur and not alter its decor. However, some rooms’ decoration was updated under the supervision of architect G. E. Bosse.

After Polyakov left Petersburg for Paris, he mortgaged the house to the Moscow Land Bank for 450,000 rubles for 31 years and then sold it. In 1909, the Laval house was purchased by the state to expand the neighboring Senate building.

To adapt the mansion for new needs, a special commission was created, headed by architect V. A. Prussakov. The reconstruction project was developed by K. K. Schmidt. During the work, all interior decoration was preserved.

Changes were made only to illuminate dark rooms, create convenient passages for visitors, and increase the number of service rooms. The main staircase was also altered, adding a bypass gallery. All work began in 1912 with the creation of a skylight and was completed in March 1914.

The house was damaged during the Great Patriotic War.

On November 13, 1941, an aerial bomb destroyed the central part of the main building: the dome collapsed, the ceiling of the Large Hall was pierced, a large part of the painted ceiling fell, the central balcony collapsed, the lion figures were damaged, the capitals of the columns and one of the bas-reliefs on the facade were broken. On November 20, 1941, a shell damaged one of the rooms on the first floor and the ceiling of the Vestibule; later, two more shells hit the building. To create conditions for restoration, in 1943 a team led by A. M. Sokolov measured the interiors, and G. V. Askinazi traced the wall paintings in the Dining Room and copied its fragments. The restoration itself began in 1945, before the war ended.

In 1945–47, walls and ceilings were restored. In 1946, sculptor K. P. Dyomina, advised by I. V. Krestovsky, recreated the facade bas-relief based on surviving fragments, pre-war photographs, and images by A. P. Bryullov. The restoration of the interiors was supervised by A. L. Rotach. The paintings of the ceiling and lunettes of the Library were restored in 1947 under the guidance of N. V. Pertsev. From 1948 to 1951, the Pompeian Hall was restored: new trusses and ceiling girders were installed; the existing ceiling lining was tightened to the balconies, or recreated where missing. The paintings were strengthened, cleaned, and restored under the supervision of O. Yu. Pedayas. The paintings in the lunettes above the windows were completely destroyed; for restoration, compositions from the opposite wall were used.

In 1953, the Grand Staircase was restored; the original artificial marble cladding, discovered under layers of paint, was restored. The lion figures were restored in 1959 by V. A. Tsygankov, who carved the lost granite parts and mounted them on metal pins.

From 1970 to 1974, a second restoration of the Blue Drawing Room, the Masonic Library, the Side, Large, and Dining Halls took place. The restoration involved O. Yu. Pedayas, M. M. Shvabsky, I. A. Alekseev, V. I. Lavrukhin, and others. During the restoration, fragments of the original early 19th-century interior decoration were regularly discovered. Restoring this decoration was deemed impossible, but all its remains were documented.

When the Russian State Historical Archive was housed in the Laval house, it contained a reading room, library, staff offices, and other service rooms.

In 2007, the decoration and wall paintings of the ceremonial hall were renewed, and the appearance of the Senate Church, damaged during the war, was recreated. The paintings were restored, and the Pompeian Hall was restored. On the site of dilapidated buildings in the inner courtyard, a new building was created under the supervision of S. Yu. Bobylev.

After the archive moved to a new location, the Laval house was restored again and in 2008 was handed over to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation along with the Senate building.

Sources:

https://www.citywalls.ru/house808.html?s=89uhm34uqa9n7oj18eja98fmv4

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

https://dzen.ru/a/ZkcXgljlr0WMKt0P