The House of Famous Russian Writer Lev Tolstoy

Spread the love

In the rapidly changing Moscow, there are still places where we can plunge into the world of a past – the charming 19th century. During my last trip to Moscow, I decided to discover the famous palaces and mansions of the city where I grew up. This time the visit was to the house of the most famous Russian writer Lev Tolstoy. It is located in the central district called Khamovniki. Today it looks even more picturesque because this authentic wooden house is surrounded by modern urban architecture – like an oasis of calm and tranquility inside the crazy rhythm of the megalopolis.

Here Tolstoy lived with his family for ten years, leaving it only for the summer which he used to spend in his other residence – Yasnaya Polyana. For the writer, moving and living in Moscow was a difficult decision: he did not like the noise of the city, its fuss, he couldn’t tolerate the remoteness from nature. For the first time, when he saw this house in Khamovniki, Tolstoy immediately took the decision to buy it and one of the main reasons was the presence of a garden. This detail could not be shadowed by the fact that the house was surrounded by the factories and workers’ hostels.

I visited the house in April and the garden was covered with the first spring flowers – snowdrops. All the paths in the garden lead to the top of the hill, where Tolstoy ordered to install a bench for contemplating the surrounding nature. The garden also has a small gazebo which stands out from the rest of the buildings with its classical appearance. Here Tolstoy used to have tea while making corrections to his famous novels.

From the height of the hill it is possible to assess the main habitat of the writer and his family: because of the multiple reconstructions, the house looks disproportionate but still doesn’t lose its attractiveness. Before settling down, the writer built three reception rooms on the second floor. Here he made parquet floors, bought expensive furniture, covered the walls with trendy back then “marble” wallpaper, set up a piano in one living room, in the other – a fireplace and a Turkish sofa. Famous guests often visited Tolstoy in his new house, among them was Chekhov, Ostrovsky, Fet, Ge, Shalyapin and many others.

From the hall on the second floor, you could get into the expensively furnished living room and the oldest part of the building – “catacombs” (as they were called by the family members). They included servants’ rooms, Tolstoy’s office and the room of his daughter Maria Lvovna. This separation from the other family members was not by accident – the writer needed a quiet place to work on his new articles and novels.

In the dining room, the family gathered together for dinner every evening at 6 pm. Tolstoy and his daughter Mary had a different menu from the rest of the family – they didn’t eat food containing animal protein, white bread, natural coffee, did not drink alcohol and the writer also quit smoking.