Soon after building the Gauswald dacha, architect Schene decided to erect his own house on Kamenniy Island. In 1900, he submitted a request for a long-term lease of a plot of land on the northern side of the Grand Canal, near the Gauswald dacha. The construction site was chosen on the shore of a picturesque pond. As one of the pioneers of St. Petersburg Art Nouveau, Schene had the opportunity to most fully express the ideas of the new style when creating his own mansion. A small wing of this project, in a modified form, turned into the existing mansion. Kirikov calls the style of the mansion a neo-romantic version of Art Nouveau.
The work on the project was carried out from 1900 to 1903. At first, the architect conceived a complex pavilion composition—a "temple of labor," a repository of artistic life. This idea apparently arose under the influence of the buildings of the Darmstadt Artists' Colony, being constructed at that time by the Austrian architect Olbrich. Schene’s original project was not realized, apparently due to lack of funds. Only a small wing with a high mansard roof was executed in a modified form. This building became the architect’s mansion. Schene creatively reinterpreted foreign influences. The strictness and conciseness of forms became a new word in the architecture of early St. Petersburg Art Nouveau. At the same time, the architect developed some techniques he had found in the Gauswald dacha. From the entrance side, he again introduced a group of geometrically clear and generalized volumes: a cube (vestibule), a cylinder (tower), and a cone (its top). Here they are closely united, interlocking with each other. The contrasting juxtaposition emphasizes the expressiveness of these simple large forms.
Inside, the house in the original project included 4 rooms with a veranda on the first floor and 2 on the second; later it was slightly expanded. On the first floor of the house there is a small vestibule and a spacious hall with a staircase to the second floor. The floor in the vestibule is laid with ceramic tiles featuring a geometric pattern. On the first floor were located an office, a bedroom with a terrace, and a bathroom. The walls were finished with wooden panels and an ornamental frieze of white circles with blue stripes and blue circles with white stripes.
On the second floor were the living room, buffet room, dining room, and music hall. From the large windows of the music hall and living room, there is a picturesque view of the pond and a small island.
In the garden, located between the house and the pond, there were many rose bushes and climbing plants.
The elite theme of the house for a creative personality found fertile ground on Kamenniy Island. It is no coincidence that architects Meltzer and von Postels built their own Art Nouveau mansions nearby. However, Schene’s own house passed immediately after construction to a Vilnius burgher named Altshuller. Before the revolution, it was bought by the Luzhsky landowner Grzegorzewski.
In 1916, Schene’s house was confiscated by the island’s owners.
In 1918, the mansion was handed over to a children’s labor colony. In the 1920s, it was converted into apartments, with no significant changes to the layout.
The villa’s interiors featured elements of decorative ceramics, which were carefully preserved until the 1970s, but during the remodeling of the interior for a state residence, the original decor was dismantled and some elements were placed in the collections of the Museum of the History of Leningrad.
Recently, a reconstruction was carried out for a state dacha (residence K-4). The building was partially rebuilt, and the plot was surrounded by a high solid fence. Today, the mansion is under the jurisdiction of the Administrative Department of the President of the Russian Federation.
After reconstruction, object K-4 on Kamenniy Island will be called the State Guest Residence. High-ranking foreign guests will stay here, and members of the Russian government may also reside. The residence includes an ensemble of mansions, among which are the buildings of architect Meltzer’s dacha, architect Schene’s mansion, and banker Soloveichik’s dacha.
Sources:
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Особняк_В._И._Шёне
