Information about the plot dates back to 1787. At the request of the court seamstress Madame Billo, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich granted her land on Kamenny Island. In 1795, Billo sold the plot to Count I. G. Chernyshev. Just two years later, a summer dacha was built for the count in the then-fashionable greenhouse style — with tall windows, extensive glazing, and many plants inside. Between 1812 and 1814, the house was rebuilt into a classical mansion, presumably under the direction of Luigi Rusca. On April 2, 1830, Chernyshev annexed a neighboring plot to his estate, which at the end of the 18th century Anna Grigoryevna Petrovo-Solovovo had sold to chamberlain F. F. Vadkovsky.
On June 30, 1830, Count Chernyshev sold the estate to the court stable master, Prince Vasily Dolgorukov, who already owned another dacha on Kamenny Island. Dolgorukov decided to build a dacha as a gift for his high-ranking relative, Prince Peter Georgievich Oldenburgsky. Architect Smaragd Shustov was invited to lead the construction, and the entire project was managed as a state affair: the Court Intendant’s Office conducted tenders for contracts, selected, and hired craftsmen.
According to Shustov’s design, between 1831 and 1833 a wooden building with a square plan was constructed, featuring a rotunda in the center and two grand staircases on either side of the vestibule, which was covered by a gentle dome. Three facades (south, west, and east) were decorated with porticos supported by six columns, and on the central facade, on both sides of the portico, there were semicircular windows. On November 3, 1833, immediately after construction was completed, Dolgorukov handed over the dacha to Prince Oldenburgsky.
By this time, the garden had been landscaped in a picturesque style. The wooden two-story dacha building had a square plan, with projecting porticos giving it the shape of an equilateral cross. The main facade—the southern one—featured a six-column Doric portico supporting a second-floor balcony. The portico with an arched ramp was flanked by two large Italian windows, above which were relief images of wreaths and quivers with arrows. Above the cornice with large modillions rose an attic wall. The facades were clad with planks. The building was crowned by a gentle spherical dome on a low drum pierced with windows topped by semicircular arches. The other facades were similar to the main one. The dome covered the central round hall, which formed the core of the centric plan. In 1837, architect Stakenschneider designed the conversion of the balconies of the western and northern porticos into rooms. He also updated the interior decoration. Two years later, architect Stasov built a two-story annex on the northwest side of the house. In 1841, under the direction of architect Tiblén, a two-story stone residential wing and a laundry were constructed in the northern part of the prince’s estate. The first of these buildings was significantly rebuilt and expanded in 1869 by architect Shtegeman.
In 1837, it was decided to expand Oldenburgsky’s dacha, with the reconstruction plan executed by the famous architect Andrey Stakenschneider. A red brick wing decorated with white elements on the facades was added to the main building. The balconies of the northern and western porticos were converted into rooms. At the same time, the interiors were somewhat altered. In 1841, in the northern part of the estate, under the supervision of Lev Yakovlevich Tiblén, a residential wing and laundry were built. The next stage of the dacha’s construction was the reconstruction of the buildings adjacent to the main structure in 1869, led by architect Heinrich Shtegeman.
At first, Peter Georgievich and Terezia Vilhelmina frequently visited the dacha on Kamenny Island and hosted balls at the estate, but gradually they stopped coming. Thanks to the dacha’s abandonment, it changed little since the last reconstruction.
The dacha suffered severe damage in the 1924 flood. In 1928, Oldenburgsky’s dacha was transferred to the housing fund for communal apartments for the All-Russian Society of the Blind; during the remodeling, almost all interior decoration was destroyed. In the 1930 fire, the building’s dome burned down; it was restored in 1936–1937, but without the original painting.
In 1978, while occupied as a dormitory, another fire broke out, destroying the dome and central part. The dacha was abandoned and fell into disrepair. Only in 1982 was the dome completely dismantled and restoration began using different materials, with wooden cladding. The work was completed in 1989.
In 2017, privatization of the dacha and adjacent garden was planned. In October 2019, the dacha was sold at auction for 135 million rubles to JSC "Legion," owned by Polina, daughter of Yevgeny Prigozhin. Experts believe the real value of the property was at least 210 million rubles. In 2021, "Legion" received permission to restore Oldenburgsky’s dacha as a hotel.
The hotel and restaurant are currently open.
Sources:
https://www.dp.ru/a/2023/05/25/vladelicej-dachi-princa-ol
https://www.citywalls.ru/house9266.html
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Дача_Ольденбургского_(Каменный_остров)
