Maly Prospekt P.S., 26-28, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 197198
The Kornilov Income House was built in 1910 according to the design of architect and artist Baranovsky, specifically architect Alexander Baranovsky. This solid building features a granite plinth, an upper row of hexagonal windows, and pediments above three triangular bay windows, which rhythmically organize the extended facade. Two cylindrical bay windows at the corners, transitioning into faceted turrets, serve as accents in the street perspectives. It is guarded by a frowning and serious owl with outstretched wings positioned high up in the portico. The decor includes a variety of plant ornaments and the use of glazed bricks. The balconies are framed with wrought iron railings.
The first floor of the building is clad with granite chips, while all the subsequent floors are covered with white and bluish facing tiles with inserts of green glazed bricks.
Art Nouveau dominates the interiors as well. An interesting technique is used on the staircase: the service and main staircases are separated by stained glass. In the left main staircase, stained glass windows made on thick "cathedral" glass using the grisaille technique have been preserved in the partitions between the main and service staircases.
In the adjacent main staircase, above the landing of the top floor, a skylight illuminates the not very wide staircase of the house. From the autumn of 1913, the poet and translator Lozinsky lived in this house. Editorial meetings of the Acmeist poets' magazine "Hyperborea," founded by Gumilev and Gorodetsky, were held in his apartment.
Lozinsky was the editor and publisher. The magazine was published during 1912-1913, with 10 issues released. It featured works by Akhmatova, Zenkevich, Kuzmin, Mandelstam, Narbut, and Shileiko.
The history of the house began in 1849, when this plot belonged to Friedrich (Fyodor) Khristoforovich Mor, a Prussian subject and master baker. On Malyy Prospect, he lived with his family in a two-story stone house, occupying a six-room apartment. The house included a bakery and a bakehouse.
In 1862, a wooden house with service rooms and a stable was built next to this stone building, simultaneously housing a lazaretto for workers injured on construction sites. After the owner's death in 1869, the property passed to his widow and children.
In 1900, Friedrich Mor’s daughter, Emilia Folgman, sold the plot with the by-then dilapidated buildings to Kornilov, a state councilor and chairman of the board of the Kostroma Charitable Society and the Workers' Assistance Society. He was engaged in construction contracting.
By his order, in 1909 Baranovsky began construction on a large plot from Bolshaya Grebetskaya Street (now Pionerskaya) to the corner at the bend of Malyy Prospect, erecting a five-story income house with a sixth attic floor. The first floor is clad with granite chips, and all the upper floors are covered with white and bluish facing tiles with inserts of green glazed bricks.
Between the windows of the 2nd and 3rd floors, putti are depicted. The attics have original artistic metal railings. The corner bay windows are crowned with turrets featuring rotundas. The triangular pediment is decorated with a sculptural image of an owl with outstretched wings as a symbol of protecting the house under its wings.
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