Музей коммунального быта: Квартира Сергея Довлатова

MUSEUM OF COMMUNAL LIFE «SERGEI DOVLATOV’S APARTMENT»

the very same legendary communal apartment

WC

CORRIDOR

SVETLANA SMIRNOVA’S ROOM

COUR D’HONNEUR

WELL-YARD

ENTRANCE HALL

FRONT ENTRANCE

TATIANA MILEANT’S ROOM

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click to view the room

Communal Apartment No. 34

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Sergey dovlatOV’S ROOM

kitchen

STAIR-CASE

CORRIDOR

HOUSE ON RUBINSTEIN STREET, 23
(1910)

This is the burned-down turret with a clock that once adorned this courtyard.

At 23 Rubinstein Street stands a building that, if it could speak, would surely tell the story of St. Petersburg is better than any tour guide.

Behind its elegant stucco façade lies not just a structure, but an entire world—a cour d’honneur, spacious and rare for our city. It seems that the architect, weary of the countless well-yards, decided to indulge his imagination. Instead of the usual cramped spaces, he created a small yet luxurious street: balconies, bay windows, and a turret with a clock and a flag at it's center.

Once, that clock kept time for the residents, but now it is gone. The turret, too, has not survived. Yet, on old architectural blueprints of the façade, we can see how it once was — majestic, harmonious, almost fairy-tale-like.

The boy on the sled—that is little Seryozha Dovlatov.

"We lived in a dreadful communal apartment. A long, gloomy corridor metaphysically culminated in the lavatory. The wallpaper near the telephone was covered in drawings—a depressing chronicle of the communal subconscious.

Zoya Svistunova, a single mother, painted wildflowers.
The cheerful engineer Gordoy Borisovich Ovsyannikov carefully retouched women’s buttocks.
The not-so-bright Colonel Tikhomirov drew military insignias.
Technician Kharin sketched bottles with shot glasses.
The pop singer Zhuravleva recreated a treble clef that resembled an ear.
I drew pistols and sabers.

Our apartment was hardly typical. It was mostly inhabited by intellectuals.
There were no fights. No one spat in each other’s soup. (Though I wouldn’t bet on it.)"

(S. Dovlatov, "Ours")

The hotel donated a unique original photograph of Sergei Dovlatov to the museum, making it an invaluable part of the collection.

Domina St. Petersburg Hotel — a five-star Boutique hotel in St. Petersburg.