All architects make mistakes. The mistakes of the best of them become attractions, like Vladislav Gorodetsky's House with Chimeras in Kyiv. The main tourist routes pass by, but access to the inside is seriously limited, since the building is occupied by the Protocol Department of the President of Ukraine. Ivan Siyak and Valentin Bo received permission to film the interiors of the house for Bird In Flight.
At the end of the 19th century, Kyiv finally felt the consequences of industrialization. The Russian Empire grew richer, but the riches now went to new people. The landowners with their estates and the hereditary aristocracy were eclipsed by industrialists and financiers who came from the bottom. They earned differently and spent money differently. The demand for real estate for housing and investment created by the bourgeoisie sparked the building boom of the 1890s and 1900s.
There were no great architects of that time. After 100 years, the most famous name is Vladislav Gorodetsky, whose place in history has been preserved by the pompous, scolded by critics, unsuccessful from an engineering point of view "House with Chimeras". Most of the reproaches addressed to him sound very modern and are still applied to high-profile construction projects.
The controversial reputation of the architect
The son of Ukrainian landowners of Polish origin came to Kyiv in 1889 after graduating from the Imperial Academy of Arts and soon married the daughter of the owner of two yeast distilleries. New connections helped to get the first orders for the design of crypts and courtyard toilets. “Construction office of the house sewerage of the architect V.V. Gorodetsky” - that was the name of his first bureau.
Shooting helped. Vladislav joined the Kyiv department of the Imperial Society of Proper Hunting, built a shooting gallery and entered the circle of the most influential residents of the city. The very next year, Gorodetsky was invited to the House-Building Society, which was building up the area adjacent to Khreshchatyk. Together with the director of the society, Shleifer, Gorodetsky designed the most expensive hotel in the city, the Continental. He invested his earnings in the For cement plant of the merchant Yevgeny Zaitsev, with whom he often hunted. In 1902, Zaitsev gave Gorodetsky a contract for the construction of a four-story apartment complex in the very center, on the corner of Khreshchatyk and Prorizna, with a huge budget for that time of 800 thousand rubles.
Gorodetsky approached his 40th birthday and the construction of his own house with a resume that included several commercial buildings, the Museum of Antiquities and Arts (now the National Art Museum) designed by Pyotr Boytsov, the Nicholas Church designed by Valovsky, and the Karaite Kenesa, the main decoration of which the stucco decorations of the Italian Elio Sala became. The completion of other people's projects and the lack of his own pronounced style were among the reasons that in Soviet literature Gorodetsky was often deprived of the status of an architect and called an engineer.
An opaque deal to buy land
To build his own house, Gorodetsky looked after two plots on the steep slope of Bankova Street, which were declared unsuitable for construction. After waiting for the price to drop to a minimum due to the lack of buyers, the architect bought land from the House-Building Society with money borrowed from the Mutual Credit Society. Shleifer, Gorodetsky's partner in the construction of the Continental, was the director of both firms. The building was not built yet. Now it is called "House with chimeras".
Risky financing scheme
The bubble in the real estate market in Kyiv was inflated by reckless lending. To go through the whole process from buying land to decorating the interiors of the house, Gorodetsky took out 30 loans.
A plot of 1,550 square meters cost 15,640 rubles. On the security of the land, funds were received for the construction of the first floor. On the security of the first floor, money was taken for the second, on the security of the second - for the third. So for 65 thousand six floors and a roof were completed. Another 59 thousand rubles cost only the first year of two years of finishing work.
Elitism
By the beginning of the 20th century, there was a 36-bit gradation of housing in Kyiv according to comfort and annual payment. In addition to the location of the house and the area of the apartment, the floor (the lower the better) and a set of services were taken into account: heating, electricity, telephone, refrigerators in the basement, the presence of a doorman and a messenger, parking for carriages and a garage. Renting an apartment up to 100 square meters in the central quarters cost about 300 rubles a year. A seven-room luxury apartment with full service on Nikolaevskaya Street (now - Architect Gorodetsky) cost 700.
In the House with Chimeras, the Gorodetsky family was assigned an apartment of 380 m² on the ground floor with an office, two living rooms, dining rooms, a boudoir, a bedroom, a nursery, a guest room, an entrance hall, three rooms for servants, a kitchen, a room for washing dishes, a bathroom , two master toilets and a pantry.
Others rented out: a two-room apartment on the first floor - for 420 rubles a year, a three-room apartment - for 540 rubles, a 6-room apartment on the second floor - for 1,200, an 8-room apartment on the third - for 2,000, a 10-room apartment on the fourth and a 9-room apartment on fifth - for an incredible 3,500 rubles each, an 8-room apartment on the sixth - for 2,750 rubles a year. The house had a freight elevator, a common laundry, a glacier, sheds for firewood and carriages, a barn for the supply of fresh milk, wine cellars.
Unreliable engineering solution
The steep slope on the plot of land purchased by Gorodetsky forced him to apply new design solutions. Firstly, the house has two heights: from the facade it is three-story, and six floors look towards Khreshchatyk. Secondly, the house has two different foundations: a tape on a hill and reinforced with fifty bored concrete piles at the bottom.
Piling technology was new for Kyiv at the beginning of the 20th century, and the architect failed to apply it correctly. For several decades, parts of the building lying on different foundations have split. In some places, the crack reached a width of 40 centimeters. To save the house in the late 1990s, a major overhaul was needed with 177 new pillars driven in.
Controversial artistic value
Homelessness. Owner's insolvency
If the apartments were completely filled, the rent would annually bring Gorodetsky 13,910 rubles. Maintenance of the building cost 2,300 rubles, 4,410 had to be paid off debts. However, there was no queue of those wishing to settle in the "House with Chimeras". The prices, the noise of a tram running along Bankovaya Street, the oppressive design of interiors, and the owner's hunting trophies placed here and there, were frightening away.
In 1909, Gorodetsky first laid the "House with Chimeras", in 1912 - again, and then he could not redeem it. Irreparable damage to the architect's budget was caused by the realization of a dream - participation in an African safari. A tour for three Kyivans in Kenya was led by a zoologist, a graduate of the University of Paris. He was assisted by two trackers, two squires, a groom, three personal servants for tourists, two cooks, two preparators, a dog handler, four guards and almost 150 porters.
In 1920 Vladislav Gorodetsky emigrated to Poland. He died and was buried in Iran, where he built a railway station commissioned by an American company.
(all photos, except signed otherwise, - Valentin Bo)
Kyiv is an amazingly beautiful city. It has always been distinguished by its originality and the presence of a huge number of historical and architectural sights. One of them, undoubtedly, is the House with chimeras. Kyiv, whose photo can be seen in the advertising booklets of many travel agencies, attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world. Today we will talk about the history, architecture, interior features of the amazing building, you will learn how you can visit the Gorodetsky House.
Story
The author of the project of the famous house was the architect Vladislav Gorodetsky, who, after graduating from the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, moved to Kyiv. The house with chimeras, whose history began in 1901, when construction work began, was not the first work of the master in the Ukrainian capital. By this time, he was already well known as a talented architect who developed projects for many original buildings in Kyiv: the Art Museum, the Kyiv Kenassa, the Church of St. Nicholas.
Gorodetsky was a passionate hunter, probably for this reason, many images of animals were present in his works. The construction work, which was completed already in 1903, was led by engineer Anton Straus. It should be noted that during the construction of this building, innovative technologies for those times were used.
Gorodetsky built a house with chimeras (Kyiv) using borrowed funds, planning to open an apartment building. On each floor, he created apartments that were connected by stairs and an elevator. The architect himself occupied the fourth floor with an area of about 380 m².
Construction was carried out at a record pace - the walls were erected on August 21, brickwork and roof - on September 13. In May 1903, only two apartments in the house were occupied: one on the ground floor and Gorodetsky's apartment.
For the construction of the building, 1550 m² of land was purchased in the amount of 15,640 rubles. The cost of the entire structure (including land) resulted in an astronomical amount for those times - 133,000 rubles. And despite the fact that the expected rental income per year was to be 7200 rubles.
Due to serious financial problems, which, according to contemporaries, were associated with the Gorodetsky safari hobby, in the summer of 1912 he decided to mortgage the mansion to the Society of Mutual Credits in Kyiv. Interest on the loan could not be paid, and in 1913 the mansion was sold at auction. Its new owner was the consular agent of France in Kyiv - Daniil Balakhovsky. Three years later he left Kyiv. The house with chimeras was sold to the merchant of the first guild, Samuel Nimetz.
After the revolution (1917) the building was nationalized and communal apartments were created in it.
In 1921, the headquarters of the military labor squad was placed here. Later, the House with Chimeras (Kyiv), the photo of which we posted in this article, was occupied by the Veterinary Directorate of the military district of the city. During the Great Patriotic War, the building was badly damaged and remained abandoned for a long time. Then they began to provide apartments for actors from the troupe of the Theater. Ivan Franko, located nearby.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the building belonged to the Ministry of Health. Gradually, the piles of the structure dilapidated, and at the junction of the pile and strip foundations, the house split into two parts. One of them leaned thirty-three centimeters towards the residence of the President of Ukraine, and the second - towards the Theater. Ivan Franko by ten centimeters.
Reconstruction
In 2003, the country's government approved the developed plan for the reconstruction of the historical monument. During the restoration work, the first floor was cleared, which had previously been covered with earth to strengthen the foundation. According to the surviving drawings of Gorodetsky, it was possible to restore the interior and wall paintings. The pile field was also restored, but they did not begin to straighten the house, considering that such work would mean the restructuring of the historical object, and not its restoration.
To install windows in warped walls from time to time, craftsmen made special curved frames. An artificial lake, a garden with an alpine slide and fountains reappeared in the courtyard.
House today
After restoration, three floors of the building (from the third to the fifth) include premises for holding official events in which the President of the country takes part. The first and second floors house the offices of the ceremonial and state protocol workers of the presidential secretariat.
The ambassadors of foreign states who come to Kyiv know this building well. The house with chimeras has a hall where credentials are presented, a hall for negotiations and for signing official documents, rooms for briefings and ceremonial receptions.
Architecture
All guests of the city, who come to Kyiv, cannot fail to notice the House with Chimeras. This outstanding building was built in the Art Nouveau style and has the shape of a cube. It has three floors from the side of Bankova Street and six from the side of Ivan Franko Square. The layout used the original principle of the interconnection of isolated premises (residential, utility, ceremonial). This method was used in many residential buildings of the early 20th century.
Unusual architectural solution
Experts believe that Vladislav Gorodetsky managed to build in the very center of the Ukrainian capital an African mountain range with a lake on top and a waterfall that washes the steps of the main staircase. This is confirmed by numerous figures of gazelles, rhinos, elephants on the facades of the house. Duckweed on the frieze, fishing gear on the corner of the building, girls with fish evoke thoughts of the lake surface, and calla - an African flower that adorns the walls of the house - grows along the banks of rivers.
A high parapet was used on the roof of the building, almost hiding the roof. Even the location (above the cliff), probably, according to the author's intention, was to enhance the impression of a house-mountain. The sculptures located on the facades of the building, according to the sketches of Gorodetsky, were made by his friend and assistant, the Italian sculptor Elio Salya.
Interiors
For most tourists visiting Kyiv, the House with Chimeras remains a mystery, since not everyone manages to get inside the building (you will find out the reason a little later). Those lucky ones who managed to visit inside believe that the interiors of this house are even more original and unusual than the facades.
For example, the central staircase is a real masterpiece: its railings are held on bird feet, and they are very pleasant to the touch. The lamp on the stairs is made in the form of intertwined fish. The acoustics here are like in a theater.
Most of the sculptures located inside the house depict not live animals, but hunting trophies. The lobby of the house is called the seabed. And it is absolutely justified: here you can see both stucco molding with a huge octopus, and wall painting with sunken ships - this is very impressive.
Once in the lobby, the tourists, as if on cue, fall silent and look around in amazement. The rooms are located in the house "fan", according to the movement of the sun. This contributed to good natural light. The total area of the building is 3,309.5 m². On the ground floor there were two apartments - two- and three-room apartments, two coachmen's rooms, a laundry room, and two stables. Each of the apartments, except for the rooms, had a kitchen, an entrance hall, a bathroom and a pantry.
The only apartment on the second floor had six rooms. In addition to living quarters, there were three servants' rooms, a vestibule, a kitchen, a pantry, a bathroom, two pantries and two toilets.
On the sixth and third floors there were eight-room apartments with an entrance hall, a laundry room, a kitchen, two servants' rooms, two bathrooms and a toilet. The best apartment in the house, owned by Gorodetsky, was on the fourth floor. She had thirteen rooms.
The apartments had a luxurious master's study, small and large living rooms, a bedroom and a boudoir, a children's room and all the necessary office space. In addition to apartments, the house had wine cellars and even a cowshed. The owner of the house himself was very fond of coffee with fresh cream and planned to give his tenants fresh milk to drink. The barn was located in such a way that the unpleasant smell did not reach the living quarters and did not cause inconvenience to the guests.
All guests of the capital of Ukraine can see the House with Chimeras from the outside (Kyiv). Tours of the city necessarily include a tour of this amazing structure. However, many would like to visit inside an unusual building. Is it possible? We will talk about this further.
Kyiv, House with Chimeras: tour inside
You can view the building from the outside on your own. Getting inside the house is much more difficult. This is explained by the fact that today it is one of the residences of the head of state. However, it is possible if you are patient and wait a few months for your turn.
As a rule, an appointment for a tour is made at the administration of the House with Chimeras or at the city's tour desks a few months before the desired date of the visit. Four guided tours per day in the building take place on Saturdays only. The group is no more than ten people.
During the registration, you must provide your passport data and have the document itself on the tour. This measure was introduced for security purposes. There is passport control at the entrance. Photography and camera use is prohibited in the building. The cost of the tour is $ 8.5 per person, but it can change, so you should specify the amount when booking.
During the tour you will be able to see the main entrance to the administration, the lobby, the apartment of Vladislav Gorodetsky's family, the art gallery located on the second floor, the wardrobe.
Legends of the House of Gorodetsky
The house with chimeras (Kyiv), whose address is 10 Bankova Street, like many sights, is shrouded in legends. One of them says that before leaving the house after its sale, Gorodetsky cursed it, saying that everyone living here would be unhappy, and only the descendants of the architect would be able to live here calmly and joyfully.
Some townspeople believe that the curse has partly come true: all the offices that rented premises here went bankrupt, and their funds disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
Another legend says that allegedly the beginning of the construction of the house took place after a bet between Gorodetsky and another famous architect. Many considered it madness to build a house on this swampy place. Nevertheless, Gorodetsky won the bet.
There is another legend that is told to everyone who comes to Kyiv. The house with chimeras was built after the death of the architect's daughter (in her honor), who drowned herself in the Dnieper after a family quarrel. Allegedly, this explains the water theme that prevails in the design of the building.
Kyiv, House with Chimeras: interesting facts
The house was built in such a way that the very first rays first illuminated the servants' rooms, which, naturally, had to wake up before anyone else. Closer to noon, when the architect started work, the sun's rays generously illuminated the office.
Architect V. Gorodetsky was the third European who visited the safari. He dreamed about this trip during the construction of his house.
The reconstruction, carried out in 2003, cost the state treasury 40 million hryvnias.
Mikhail Bulgakov believed that without the House with Chimeras, there would be no Azazello and Woland. The decor of this amazing mansion inspired the great writer to create The Master and Margarita.
How to get there?
We hope that our story interested you, and you decide to see the House with Chimeras (Kyiv) with your own eyes. How to get here? Not at all difficult, given that the building is located in the very center of the capital.
From the metro station "Khreshchatyk" you need to go to the street. Institute. Walk up it and turn right onto Bankova Street. The journey will take you only a few minutes.
House with chimeras (Ukraine) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.
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The house with chimeras is one of the strangest buildings in Kyiv. It is located at Bankovskaya 10, not far from the Presidential Administration. The house was built in 1901-1902. in the Art Nouveau style, by an architect of Polish origin Vladislav Gorodetsky. This site was initially unsuitable for construction - the terrain is swampy and the soil is mobile, but in record time the house was built entirely of concrete and cement.
Concrete at that time was a new and rare material, only rich people could afford it. The architect Gorodetsky was just one of those, so he did not stint not only on the house itself, but also on the scenery. To demonstrate what cement is capable of, the facade of the house was generously decorated with images of chimeras - fabulous mythical creatures. It also depicts mermaids, giant toads and water lilies, rhinos, antelopes, and elephants, whose trunks serve as a drain during the rains,
Inside the house is no less amazing. On the stairwells there is a lamp in the form of a giant catfish, stucco molding on the ceiling depicts a shipwreck with the participation of a huge octopus, and fabulous birds are located on the sides of the marble stairs.
Gorodetsky was an enthusiastic hunter, it was this hobby that led him to think about creating such unusual interiors.
Initially, it was assumed that apartments in this building would be rented out and bring income to Gorodetsky, but there were few such rich people in Kyiv, and nevertheless, some of them were still rented out. Today the house belongs to the Presidential Administration and serves to receive foreign delegations.
Legends of the House with Chimeras
During the creation and existence of the House with Chimeras, more than one legend arose associated with it, but two of them are most famous.
As you know, the soil on which the house stands was initially not suitable for construction. Therefore, the surrounding areas were given at one time for state construction, and this one, among others, was put under the hammer. At these public auctions, the architect Gorodetsky met with his colleagues Vladimir Leontovich and Alexander Kobelev and expressed his intention to build a house in the swamp out of concrete alone. They only laughed, but Gorodetsky was a gambler and made a bet with them, which he eventually won.
The second legend says that Gorodetsky built this house in memory of his dead daughter, who drowned herself because of unhappy love. However, according to other sources, Gorodetsky had only one daughter, who lived a long and happy life.
What time of the year would you come to Kyiv, a walk through the oldest and at the same time the most “aristocratic” district will be unequivocally impressive. The Pechersk hills are attractive and mysterious, and even the natives of Kiev each time discover more and more new images that ancient Pechersk shows us. A heady aroma emanates from the names alone: Lipki, Shelkovichnaya, Sadovaya streets, Vinogradny lane. Once upon a time, vegetation raged on these places, and now mansions that belonged to the former Kyiv nobility are comfortably located. Whoever did not build up this part of the city with exquisite buildings, thanks to which he remained in his historical chronicles. Bankers, industrialists, officials, famous doctors and architects left us a reminder of the bygone era of pretentious facades and sculptural bas-reliefs. 
The most famous attraction in Kyiv is the House with Chimeras, reminiscent of a real castle from a fairy tale. It is impossible to pass by without looking at this outlandish building, whose history is shrouded in secrets and legends. 
This is perhaps the most unique and famous building in Kyiv, which is a kind of hallmark of the Ukrainian capital. According to historians, the author himself, Vladislav Gorodetsky, said that the house is really strange, but there is no person who, passing by, would not stop his eyes on it. 
Probably, in order to understand the history of the emergence of a unique building, you need to get acquainted with the architect. A Pole by nationality, Vladislav Gorodetsky, came to Kyiv in the early 90s of the nineteenth century. The ambitious young architect had an extraordinary talent and adventurous nature. His lively mind, absorbing everything new, was combined with originality and eccentricity. 
A sociable, talented and hardworking young architect quickly made a name for himself, and, in addition to the famous House with Chimeras, there are many buildings in Kyiv built according to his designs. 
The history of the emergence of the House with Sculptures over the past decades has become overgrown with legends... Once upon a time there was an architect, a craftsman who could not be found. And he had a beautiful daughter. Once they went on a sea voyage, a storm broke out, a beautiful girl fell into the waves and drowned. The inconsolable parent decided to build a house in memory of his daughter and her most unfortunate death, the like of which is not in the world. And he decorated it with all kinds of sea miracles - here are outlandish fish, and jellyfish, and dolphins, and insidious melusine-sirens, all of skillful work. This is how this house has stood since then in the city of Kyiv, on Bankova Street, 10. 
But do not rush to grieve for the unfortunate girl or (which would be, perhaps, more adequate) to be surprised at the callousness of the architect, who decided to turn a residential building, built in addition for commercial purposes, into a kind of tomb. This is nothing more than a romantic legend, which in Kyiv has long been told to gullible tourists. The notorious daughter never drowned anywhere and lived a long, prosperous life. The house itself, it must be admitted, is really a curiosity - one of those that simply provoke the population to create urban legends; it is rather surprising that this house is not at all a legendary antiquity - it was built a little more than a century ago. 
The most scandalous of the myths about the House with Chimeras says that the author of the project is not Gorodetsky at all, but engineer Nikolai Dobachevsky. But there is no evidence for this. All drawings are signed by Gorodetsky himself, who has already declared himself as an original and original architect in his earlier works. 
According to another version, more like the truth, the House with Chimeras was built as a result of a dispute between Vladislav and two other Kyiv architects - Vladimir Leontovich and Alexander Kobelev. The fact is that the site, which by that time Gorodetsky had acquired at a bargain price, was considered unsuitable for construction, as it was located on a hillside. To create a stable foundation for the house, about 50 concrete piles were driven into the hill to a depth of 5 meters. 
According to the terms of the bet, it was necessary to build a house within two years, by the architect's fortieth birthday. Built in 1903, the building exceeded all expectations. 
The exterior design of the building is reminiscent of the famous Notre Dame in Paris. Art experts are still arguing about the style in which the building was built. Possessing elements of Gothic and Art Nouveau, the House is difficult to unequivocally attribute to one of the styles. The building is unique. Nowhere and never did Gorodetsky repeat the architectural solutions used in this project. 
The building itself was built in a year, and another two years were spent on exterior and interior decoration. It was the first house in Kyiv built using a new material - cement. 
Luxurious facades and a unique staircase at the entrance are decorated with amazing sculptures - the works of the famous master Elio Sal. Sal took into account the original taste of Gorodetsky, and thanks to this creative union, we got a fabulous palace in the center of Kyiv. One gets the full impression that these fantastic chimeras and animals were removed from the pointed roofs of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. 
For more than a hundred years, the people of Kiev, hurrying on business, raise their heads again and again, examining stone chimeras. 
Guides, or even just passers-by, will definitely tell you that when night falls on the city, griffins spread their stone wings and soar into the dark sky, mermaids wiggle their tails and talk, and other mythical characters come to life. And with the approach of dawn, everything freezes and the mysticism ends. 
Any spectator who accidentally passes by this building is struck to the core by the heads of elephants, antelopes, crocodiles and rhinos, embedded in the walls of the house. The lizards hiding in the grooves are also surprising, as well as the unique concrete trunks, which not only represent an unusual sight, but also serve as drains. 
Initially, the house was built as a profitable. Six of the seven apartments were rented out to wealthy people - other residents could not afford housing of this level. And one floor - the third from the side of the courtyard and the first from the side of the main entrance from Bankova Street, was occupied by the apartment of Gorodetsky himself. The layout of the rooms was calculated in such a way that the first rays of the sun shone through the windows of the servants: cooks and maids. This is logical, because the attendants had to wake up first in order to prepare everything necessary by the time the residents wake up. By noon the sun was falling into Gorodetsky's office, where he usually worked at that time, and by evening it was peeking into the living room. 
On the left side of the central facade, an alpine hill with a fountain was arranged. For residents, Gorodetsky tried to create the most comfortable conditions. In addition to the fact that the house was equipped with all the necessary amenities, from the rooms of the lower floors there were exits to the courtyards (usually such excesses were not provided for in tenement houses). Near the house there was a small garden, and in the garden there was a barn. Here, in the center of Kyiv, a cow lived, and Gorodetsky was very proud of the fact that each of his guests could drink coffee with fresh cream or milk for breakfast. 
As for the interior decor, it is even more whimsical than the decorations outside. 
Between the 4th and 5th floors on the stairs, even under Gorodetsky, an electric lamp in the form of a giant catfish was installed - it still works. 
In the center, the ceiling is decorated with stucco molding in the form of an octopus. The tentacles of the decorative octopus are made in the form of a combination of sea shells, urchins, plants, all of which are painted in different colors and covered with mother-of-pearl. This huge octopus is made of plaster, its tentacles descend to the very walls. If the stucco molding in the first hall is original, then the chandelier was lost, and the current one is a copy restored from photographs. It is also made of mother-of-pearl and plaster elements. 
To the left are the rooms that belonged to the Gorodetsky family. In this part of the house and on the stairs leading up, during the restoration work, which was carried out according to old photographs taken by Gorodetsky himself, the appearance of the house was restored, and part of the premises that lost their decor in the second half of the 20th century was simply repaired. 
Passionate fan of hunting Gorodetsky after an expensive safari in 1913 was forced to sell the house to pay off debts, and the House with Chimeras changed hands. After the revolution, it became an ordinary communal apartment in which doctors, teachers and artists lived. At the end of the Great Patriotic War, a hospital was located in the house. This period was the most destructive in the history of the unique building. Walls repainted with oil paint, medical equipment and lack of repair began to destroy the magnificent building. But, in 2003, the reconstruction of the house began, and it acquired the status of the Small Residence of the President, where receptions of foreign delegations are held. 
If you enter from the main entrance - it is from here that the current high-ranking guests of the President of Ukraine enter the house - the first room causes genuine admiration. The walls of the hallway are covered with murals depicting the underwater world with sunken ships. The former living room of Gorodetsky now houses a small meeting room. The most striking detail of this room is the stucco depicting the plexus of irises. It is made in white, pink and light green colors. 
In addition, this room, like all the others, is decorated with hunting paraphernalia - deer antlers hang on the walls - a kind of architectural Gorodetsky's autograph. In the former living room, as in the rest of the rooms, there is a stove lined with amazingly beautiful ceramic tiles. All stoves in the house are in good condition and can be fired up at any time, but since centralized steam heating has been operating in the building for a long time, stoves are not used even for demonstration purposes. The main accent of the dining room can be called a chandelier - large elk antlers were used in its manufacture. 
The stucco molding in the dining room is also very intricate - it depicts various vegetables: here you can see garlic, artichokes, beets, and much more. 
From the hallway with an octopus, a white marble staircase leads to the upper floors. And the staircase itself, and the handrails, and the plaster decor are perfectly preserved. 
The balusters of the stair railings are made in the form of eagle paws, sculptural images of hunting weapons and trophies are fixed on the walls: there is a lined deer, and a hare, and whole garlands of partridges and other game, as well as from spruce branches and cones. It is characteristic that if the outside of the building is decorated with living animals, then inside all of them are already presented in the form of hunting prey. 
After the "House with Chimeras" became a small reception house, the bedroom, nursery, servants' room and dressing room in Gorodetsky's apartment were combined and turned into a press center. 
The Museum and Cultural Center "Masterpieces of Art of Ukraine", which is a branch of the National Museum, operates on the basis of the House with Chimeras. Among the exhibits of the museum are various objects of decorative and applied art, paintings, sculptures. The pride of the museum is the "Ostroh Bible" printed by Ivan Fedorov (1581), bronze dishes, the manufacture of which dates back to the 16th century BC, as well as other rarities. The museum is only open on Saturdays. There are four tours per day by appointment. 
The house with chimeras is a place where you can always meet tourists. Still, because this is the most, that neither is, the center of the city! However, what inquisitive guest of Kyiv would not ask to see him the House with chimeras? And what kind of hospitable resident of Kiev will not be able to do this? The people of Kiev will lead this curious person to the shady, somewhat gloomy Bankovskaya Street, where it is always quiet and not crowded. And the guest will invariably be somewhat dumbfounded in front of a strange structure, but will invariably admire the genius of the author of this architectural masterpiece.
