Benois House

Benois House, 2020

Benois House [До́м Бенуа́], also widely known as the Three Benois House [До́м трёх Бенуа́], is a historic building in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The apartment house occupies almost a whole quarter on Kamennoostrovsky Avenue. The locals call it “the Benois House ” or “the house of the Three Benois”, because it was designed by three members of a famous family of architects — brothers Leon Benois and Albert Benois and their cousin Julius Benois. The building was erected in 1911-1914 by order of the First Russian Insurance Company. The number of apartments during the construction of the house is 250, the number of front doors is 25, the number of courtyards is 12.

Quotes

• It was one of the most comfortable houses of the early twentieth century, a "city in the city" for 250 apartments, with advanced engineering communications, a power station, a boiler house, and garages, etc. The complex was serviced by twenty janitors. In Soviet times, the "fathers" of Leningrad lived here, beginning with Sergei Kirov. A composer Dmitri Shostakovich lived here as well, whose bust is installed in an open courtyard from the side of Kronverkskaya street. The courtyards of the House of Benoit represent a real maze, there are more than ten of them, from the grand Courtyard to the St. Petersburg "wells" with bizarrely curving arches. Turning into the next gateway, you never know to which of the four streets you will get.
  • The Courts of the House of Three Benois / St. Petersburg 24.

• After the revolution of 1917, many apartments in this house became communal. Some of the apartments have been given to the Party and government leaders. In April 1926, Kirov started to live in a service apartment number 20 in the house 26/28 on the Krasnyh Zor’ (Red Dawn) street (former Kamennoostrovsky Avenue). Sergei Mironovich Kirov was head of the Communist party organization in Leningrad. There he lived with his wife, Maria Lvovna Marcus until the last day of his life, up to December 1st 1934. In 1955, the apartment became a museum.
  • SM Kirov House and Museum / Left side of the road (observations, reviews, comments). 27.03.2021.