The first stone building on the plot of house No. 27 on Bolshaya Morskaya Street was built in the 1740s for the gold embroiderer (silversmith) Demut. In the 1750s-1760s, it was owned by the carver Osip Ivanovich Shtalmeer, who worked on the construction of the Winter Palace. He repeatedly mortgaged the house and in 1769 sold it to chamberlain Fyodor Pavlovich Balk-Polevoy, the grandson of Modesta Ivanovna Balk (sister of Peter I’s favorite Anna Mons).

The next owner of the property in 1781 was General-anshef Fyodor Ivanovich Glebov. From the late 18th century, the house belonged to architect Vincenzo Brenna — the court architect of Paul I, who built his summer residences in Gatchina and Pavlovsk and the Mikhailovsky Castle. Brenna had a very rich collection of artworks; several halls were filled with sculptures from antiquity and the Renaissance. After Paul I’s death, the architect had to sell off collections of furniture, paintings, mirrors, sculptures, and leave Russia in 1802. At the auctions, among other things, Michelangelo Buonarroti’s “Crouching Boy” was sold, which later ended up in the Hermitage.

In the 1810s-1820s, the plot was owned by Count Sergey Kuzmich Vyazmitinov. This general held posts as Minister of the Army and Land Forces and Minister of Police. In his later years, he was the Governor-General of St. Petersburg. After Vyazmitinov, the plot was managed by merchant Pets, and from 1836 by merchant Ivan Karlovich Laufert. At that time, architect Pel added a fourth floor to the building.

In 1838-1839, poet Pyotr Andreyevich Vyazemsky lived in house No. 27 on Bolshaya Morskaya Street. His daughter Maria lived there with her husband Pyotr Arkadyevich Valuyev, the future Minister of Internal Affairs and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers. Pushkin and Lermontov often visited here as guests of Karamzin. From 1849, the property was managed by heirs. In 1867, under merchant Laufert’s ownership, a canopy supported by cast-iron columns was installed above the main entrance. Later, the building belonged to Karl Laufert.

In the 1870s, establishments for bookbinding (Karl Laufert) and gold products (Karl Levstrem), as well as the popular music store of Stellovsky, operated in the Laufert house.

The next owner of the plot from 1889 to 1897 was Alexandra Afanasyevna Malm. From the early 20th century, the house belonged to Ida Baltazarovna Lidval — mother of architect Fyodor Ivanovich Lidval. The trading house "I. P. Lidval and Sons" was located here. This firm specialized in tailoring clothes and was one of the most famous in Russia, holding a monopoly on tailoring liveries for the royal court. Ida Baltazarovna headed the family firm after her husband’s death.

Ivan Petrovich (Johan Petter) Lidval

The firm was founded by Ivan Petrovich (Johan Petter) Lidval, born in 1827 in Sweden. He arrived in St. Petersburg in January 1859. He brought with him only two favorite books and tailoring tools. In St. Petersburg, he managed to get a job in a Russian tailor’s workshop, and after the tailor’s death, he married his widow. This marriage was childless, and after a few years, Lidval’s wife died, leaving him the workshop. In 1867, Lidval remarried to Ida Amalia Fleshau, the daughter of a carpenter. They lived together for 18 years and had eight children, the most famous of whom was the remarkable architect Fyodor Ivanovich Lidval (about whose buildings I have written extensively in this blog).

A turning point in Lidval’s career was the coronation of Alexander III. Lidval’s acquaintances helped him secure the order to sew coronation liveries. Lidval’s workshop successfully fulfilled the order, after which new orders poured in. Lidval was awarded the Medal “For Zeal,” received the status of “Court Tailor to His Majesty” with the right to use the Russian coat of arms alongside the firm’s name. He became the “Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty the Sovereign Emperor,” as well as “Supplier to the Courts of Their Imperial Highnesses” Vladimir, Pavel, and Alexey Alexandrovich.

Ivan Lidval died in 1886, after which the firm’s management passed to his widow. Ida Amalia Baltazarovna Lidval led the firm until her death in 1915. She was assisted by her younger sons Wilhelm, Edward, and Paul (unlike Fyodor Lidval, who pursued architecture, they followed in their father’s footsteps).

In 1892, the first contract was signed with the Ministry of the Court, under which, in exchange for a 10% discount, the firm “I. P. Lidval” became a monopoly in the production of liveries for palace servants, the Court Stables Department, the Imperial Hunt, and the Imperial Hermitage. These contracts were initially concluded for four years, and from 1902 — for six years. Under these contracts, the firm earned: in 1899 — 59,020 rubles 45 kopecks, in 1900 — 48,301 rubles 75 kopecks, in 1907 — 70,575 rubles 58 kopecks, in 1910 — 69,268 rubles. Besides liveries for the royal court, the firm also made liveries for the servants of Grand Dukes Vladimir, Pavel, and Alexey Alexandrovich, Princes Yusupov, Counts Shuvalov, and Bobrinsky.

The firm “I. P. Lidval” tailored not only liveries but also men’s clothing. One of the firm’s main clients was Emperor Nicholas II himself (besides “I. P. Lidval,” uniforms for Nicholas II were also made at the famous Norenstrem atelier). Here is how one of the Lidval brothers described this in 1921: “Nicholas II had about three hundred frock coats and approximately seventy greatcoats, as well as other clothing items. Since the emperor wore different uniforms for different regiments, the buttons were not sewn on but attached with rings and fastened like epaulettes. In addition, the emperor had a hundred foreign uniforms, including a Swedish admiral’s uniform. His civilian wardrobe included about seventy suits, 30 coats, and 150 vests. The emperor rarely wore civilian clothes. He never wore out his suits, except for hunting ones… For each foreign trip, the wardrobe was replenished with two tailcoats, two dozen white vests, and a dozen coats…”

The tailor was never allowed to touch the tsar with his hands while taking measurements, as is usually done with ordinary mortals; clothes were made according to the sizes of old garments. At fittings held in one of the halls of the imperial palace, the clothes were put on the emperor by one of the valets, a refined and important gentleman. Then the tailor made chalk marks. The tsar was an exemplary client — always friendly and polite. He had a good figure, which did not cause the tailor much difficulty. He gave all his old suits to the valets.”

The firm also made clothes for Grand Dukes Alexander Mikhailovich, Pavel Alexandrovich, Dmitry Pavlovich, Andrey, Boris, and Kirill Vladimirovich, Konstantin Konstantinovich, Prince Oldenburg, and the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. According to Paul Lidval, “they were stately and elegant gentlemen and good clients for the tailor.” Paul Lidval especially singled out Prince Felix Yusupov, whom he considered “the most elegant man in Petersburg,” and regarded the cut of his summer suits as “simply the pinnacle of tailoring art.”

Since “I. P. Lidval” fulfilled orders for the most sophisticated clientele, it employed specialists of the highest qualification. It is no surprise that the salary levels were very high. An experienced cutter earned 300-350 rubles a month (about three times the average level). However, this did not prevent employees from periodically striking. The first strike occurred in 1904 and simply “stunned” the owners. The strikers’ demands for a wage increase were immediately met, but seasonal strikes continued thereafter until the First World War.

The firm “I. P. Lidval” was initially located at the corner of Nevsky Prospect and Sadovaya Street, and in 1906 moved to the house on Bolshaya Morskaya Street, whose history I began to recount. Before the move, Fyodor Lidval carried out a reconstruction of the house. A new stone staircase was built, the interior was rearranged, large display windows were installed, and elevators were put in. Lidval’s project also included changing the building’s facade (a more lavish entrance portal and medallion decorations), but this part of the project was never realized. Later, the house was topped with a fifth floor.

At that time, the house also housed the Urlaub firm, which produced optical accessories — binoculars, glasses, pince-nez, lorgnettes, microscopes, lighting mirrors, and more.

From 1912, the office of the Mining Industry Agency for the Distribution of Russia’s Mineral Resources Denisov-Ural’tsev and the shop of the society he founded, “Russian Gems,” were located here. The shop owner and society organizer came from a family of a mining worker from Yekaterinburg, a self-taught artist who created stone-cutting works exhibited in the capital and Europe.

After Ida Lidval’s death, the firm was divided among the sons. Wilhelm and Edward received the atelier for tailoring court uniforms and liveries, while Paul, as an independent firm owner, received the atelier for tailoring civilian clothes and military uniforms.

The revolution put an end to the firm’s prosperity. The Lidval firm closed; in autumn 1918, its warehouse was sealed, and later all property was confiscated. The building on Bolshaya Morskaya housed “communist tailor workshops and political commissars’ offices.” In the summer of 1925, the administration of the orphanage located in the Lidval house on Kamennoostrovsky Prospect noticed “a fireproof safe with a broken handle… in one of the apartments where the landlord Lidval himself lived, now a Parisian banker.” Upon opening the safe, “47 gold items with large diamonds, a package with 338 diamond rosettes, about 70 silver artistic items weighing over 2 poods” were found.

Wilhelm, Edward, and Paul left Russia. In the 1920s, they tried to establish a joint business in Stockholm, but the attempt failed. Paul later moved to Paris but returned to his homeland in the late 1930s, where he opened his own atelier. For some time, two Lidval firms operated simultaneously in Stockholm, one managed by Paul (this atelier existed until his death in 1963), and the other by Edward’s children.

Sources:

https://www.citywalls.ru/house1078.html

https://babs71.livejournal.com/809187.html