Published on: 2026-10-18
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
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The comprehensive restoration of the main house of the city estate of A.D. Neguneva — E.A. Ivanova — P.N. Ivanov has been completed in Sivtsev Vrazhek Lane. The old wooden manor is connected with the first steps in the work of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. This was reported by the head of the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage. Alexey Emelyanov.
“As part of a large-scale restoration program, Moscow has already restored the original appearance of many architectural monuments. Among the recently completed projects is one of the locations from Lev Tolstoy’s Moscow period: a one-story wooden house of a city estate in Sivtsev Vrazhek Lane. In December 1850, 22-year-old Lev Tolstoy rented a cozy four-room apartment here. It was within these walls that the young writer conceived the story ‘Childhood’ and began work on ‘The History of Yesterday.’ During the comprehensive restoration, specialists reinforced the building’s rafter system, repaired the roofing, restored the preserved and recreated the lost historical plaster and wooden facade cladding, ceramic base facing, and interior decor. The restoration of this historic building is a tribute to the writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, whose 200th birthday will be celebrated in 2028,” noted Alexey Emelyanov.
On the main facade, the historic main entrance with a porch was revealed, and the window in the attic was restored. All work was carried out based on the approved project documentation, the issued permit, and under supervision Moscow Heritage Department.
The estate received its long name from the owners during different periods of the 19th and early 20th centuries: A.D. Neguneva, E.A. Ivanova, and P.N. Ivanov. Thanks to them, the historical appearance of the property was formed, which can be seen today. It is a one-story wooden building on a stone foundation. Its main facade faces Sivtsev Vrazhek Lane. The exterior of the building retains features of Moscow Empire style, however, the architectural and artistic decoration of the facade dates to the second half of the 19th century.
In December 1850, the young Count Lev Tolstoy rented a four-room apartment in a cozy one-story mansion from the titular counselor Ivanova. Memories of this place were forever imprinted in his mind. This is how he described his residence in a letter dated December 9, 1850, to his aunt Tatyana Yergolskaya: «… I have already written to you that my apartment is very nice, it consists of four rooms: a dining room with a small piano that I rented, a living room with sofas, six chairs, a walnut table covered with red cloth, and three mirrors, a study where my writing desk, bureau, and a sofa always remind me of our debates about it, and another room that is large enough to serve as both a bedroom and a dressing room, plus a small hallway…».
Many years later, the writer transferred this address onto the pages of his main work. In the epilogue of the novel “War and Peace,” it is in the small apartment on Sivtsev Vrazhek that the impoverished Nikolai Rostov, returned from the war, settles with his mother and Sonya.
In the spring of 1851, having accumulated gambling debts and grown weary of the hustle and bustle of the capital, Lev Tolstoy, together with his elder brother Nikolai, decided to leave Moscow and head to the Caucasus, where he enlisted in the military. Thus ended his first creative period in Moscow.
Photographic materials and other information about Moscow’s cultural heritage are also available in the “Cultural Heritage” section of the city media bank “Mosphoto”.
A large-scale project is presented on the mos.ru portal special project, dedicated to the development of key areas of Moscow. These include transportation, industry, healthcare, education, sports, and the construction sector. The special project helps to learn how the capital has changed over the past few years, which initiatives aimed at making the lives of residents even more comfortable are currently being implemented, and what awaits Moscow and its inhabitants in the near future.
On the project page “Culture, heritage and leisure industry” you can learn about how architectural monuments are preserved in the capital. Moscow is the country’s cultural life center and ranks among the leading metropolises in terms of the number of museums and exhibition halls. The city has created a film cluster uniting the Moskino film factory on Ryazansky Prospekt, the Gorky Film Studio, and the Moskino film park.
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