The Russian estate has become a separate phenomenon in architecture and interior design. And now many owners country houses are trying to reproduce this trend. Let's try to figure out how a Russian estate differs from ordinary mansions, take a little dip into the past and consider the features of such an interior.
The artist Stanislav Zhukovsky is known for his paintings in which he lovingly depicted ancient Russian estates. From his paintings you can study the interiors of houses from the mid-19th to the beginning of the 20th century.
S. Yu. Zhukovsky. Poetry of an old noble house, 1912
S. Yu. Zhukovsky. Large living room in Brasov, 1916
S. Yu. Zhukovsky. Interior of the library of a manor house, 1910s
Let’s immediately decide that we will talk specifically about estates, and not huts, towers and princely palaces. A lot has been said about huts and towers; this is also history, and more ancient. And nowadays only a few can afford to replicate the luxury and royal style of the palaces of Russian princes. And who would decide to reproduce such a style - in modern realities it is difficult to imagine.
The Russian tower, as a place of residence for fairly wealthy families, can now be found mainly in ancient cities and villages. Carved platbands, wood as the main material, four small rooms around a solid stove, a veranda - these are the main differences of this structure.
The interior of a Russian hut can now be found in bathhouses; sometimes people who are fond of antiquity build dachas this way. Everything here is simple, rustic, without frills or unnecessary details.
So, having dealt a little with the towers and huts, we move directly to the estate. The name comes from “to plant” or “to plant.” An estate is traditionally understood as a country building, an entire complex, which, in addition to the residential building itself, includes outbuildings and an extensive garden. It is customary to distinguish the following types of estates:
- Boyar or merchant estates that began to appear in the 17th century.
- Landowner estates, which remained the main place of residence for wealthy Russians until the beginning of the 20th century, gained particular popularity in the 19th century.
Baron Nikolai Wrangel (brother of Pyotr Wrangel, leader of the White movement) went to the provinces in 1902 to study in detail the features of the estates of the then landowners. This is how he described traditional homestead in his book: “White houses with columns, in the shady thicket of trees; sleepy, mud-smelling ponds with white silhouettes of swans plowing the summer water...”
White or sometimes blue house in classic style, columns with Corinthian orders, a maximum of two floors, a wide porch or terrace - this external appearance of a Russian estate is not outdated even now.
This photo shows the Galsky estate, located in Cherepovets. Now it is a house-museum telling about the life of landowners of the early 19th century.
As for the interior of Russian estates, one should distinguish the merchant style from the later one, created under the influence of European, mainly French trends and closer to modern realities.
These photographs show the house of the merchant Klepikov, located in Surgut. You can clearly see the abundance of textiles, very simple decoration, plank floors, good quality wooden furniture. like this metal bed with springs, we are sure that many of you were still at your grandmother’s in the village. Let us turn again to Baron Wrangel, who described the interior of the estate as follows: “Inside, in the rooms, there are decorous comfortable chairs and armchairs, friendly round tables, sprawling endless sofas, wheezing clocks with a rusty bass chime, and chandeliers, and candlesticks, and sonnets, and screens, and screens, and pipes, pipes ad infinitum.”
The furniture in such an estate was often mismatched - antique chest, inherited from his grandfather, could coexist with the newfangled French chair or English armchair, which the owner of the house, at the whim of his wife, purchased during a trip to the city. Traditionally, a Russian estate had a hall for receiving guests and, if the size of the house allowed, balls, as well as an office, which became the owner’s men’s refuge.
This photo shows the interior of the estate, built in the village of Mednoe Lake (near St. Petersburg) by architects Elena Barykina and Slava Valoven for collectors antique furniture. Almost all the furnishings are authentic, but there are also modern replicas in this house, created in an antique style.
If you want to recreate the interior of a Russian estate in your home, you should adhere to the following principles:
- A mandatory element will be a wooden floor, possibly parquet or planks.
- The furniture is laconic, preferably made of dark wood, with thin legs.
- Interior doors and the baseboard are white.
- The walls can also be wooden, painted in neutral shades (but preferably snow-white). You can also use antique wallpaper that imitates textiles.
- Tables are round or oval, with beautiful tablecloths, lamps with cozy lampshades and light curtains.
As for the kitchen and bathroom, it is advisable to use tiles here. Doors kitchen cabinets you can leave them wooden or paint them like Gzhel, as in the example we presented.
Separately, it should be mentioned the influence that the Empire style or late classicism, which came from Europe, had on the interior of a Russian estate. Within the framework of the landowner's estate, this direction was called “rural empire”, becoming less pompous and luxurious.
Now some homeowners imagine the style of a Russian estate as a kind of mixture of hut, country, chalet, rustic and modern motifs.
Well, the style of the Russian estate has always been a kind of mixture of different directions, taking a lot from the classics and history of our country. However, if you adhere to the main canons, in the end you should end up with a light interior, not overloaded with furniture, cozy, fresh, quite simple and at the same time truly homely, a real Chekhov’s dacha, described more than once by the classics of Russian literature.
Surely, everyone who has a country plot plans to build on it comfortable home. But here the question immediately arises with the choice of layout and design. If the area of such a plot allows, then it is possible to build large buildings- estates. The estate project can be anything and has its own distinctive features.
What is an estate?
If to the definition of dacha or country house everyone is already used to it, then for many the concept of “estate” evokes a similar definition, but this is not so. The estate is a fairly large park and residential complex. This area is located a large number of commercial and residential buildings.
Features of the estate:
- There are also landscape design. It cannot be said that it is possible to build an estate in any region, since previously they were built only in those areas of the area where there was good landscaping.
- What distinguishes an estate from an ordinary one? country house? Everything is quite simple - the size of the site and the building itself.
- If you look a little deeper into history, such structures were built for nobles or officials close to the rulers; even at that time they amazed with their luxury.
- Fenced areas, green spaces, parks with numerous sculptures, squares and gazebos, green lawns.
You can continue for a very long time. In principle, there were no restrictions either in the choice of building material or in the preference of the area for the construction of the estate.
Very often such buildings were erected in such places:
- Forest areas.
- Steppe meadows.
- Near the pond.
- The area of the estate was very large. They were at least 600 sq.m.
If you want to build a family estate in the form of an estate, then you should initially purchase a country plot, the size of which is at least 50 acres.
Only then will it be possible to correctly and effectively distribute space.
Distinctive features of the appearance of a manor or country estate
The main difference between this structure was and remains its size.
This can take various forms:
- U-shaped.
- Square.
- Rectangular.
- "Hollow Squares"
- "Hollow Rectangles"
The latter are buildings that have a closed design and inside there is a courtyard with a variety of green spaces and comfortable walking paths. Very often they were previously placed there winter gardens or terraces for relaxing, dining or other pastimes.
The design of the estate house has a large entrance, which is separate from the main building; it was designed in a classical style.
Namely:
- Huge columns painted in light colors.
- Large massive doors made of different materials.
- Marble or reinforced concrete steps.
Stained glass windows were also installed in the entrance area above the door. Today, such design practically does not occur, since people have become more practical and are not as eager for luxury than the rulers of that time.
Characteristics:
- Windows of this structure can also be different shapes and size. More often in the construction of estates they were not used too much big windows rectangular or square shape.
- The building could have any number of floors. The structures had both rectilinear and broken shapes. That is, the second floor might not have been around the entire perimeter of the estate.
As roofing material At that time, only environmentally friendly materials were used. This was the tile, which is durable and reliable. It retains heat indoors very well and thus there is a constant temperature regime in the house.
Layout and design of a house in the form of an estate
Estates have always been distinguished by their scale. Residential buildings had big sizes all rooms. The site originally housed outbuildings, which were decorated in a similar stylistic direction, as a residential building. Further on there was a garden and park area, in the center of which a building could be seen.
Inside such a structure, everything was correctly planned.
If the house was two-story, then on the ground floor there are:
- Entrance hall, which has a staircase to reach the second floor.
- Large cozy living room.
- The office is also of considerable size.
- Fireplace rooms (there may be more than one).
- Dining areas with large stained glass windows.
- Kitchen (as a rule, only servants could be in it).
- The last rooms used to have an entrance to basement. Nowadays such traditions are not changed, and the entrance to the basement is also constructed from kitchen area. All rooms on the first floor are massive.
The second floor begins with climbing the stairs, it can be:
- Straight.
- Screw.
- Multi-march.
The choice of the type of such construction depended on the project itself. They were decorated using wood, marble, granite or other finishing material.
On this moment in the construction of stairs in a residential two-story house The following materials are used:
- Reinforced concrete.
- Metal.
- Wood.
The steps are made of natural stones: the same marble or granite.
When planning such a design for a staircase structure, it is worth considering that the cost of natural stones is high, and not everyone will be able to afford it.
We can say that this is a dream project:
- But if desired, it is possible to use analogues of such materials and use artificial stones, which in their own way technical properties and characteristics are similar. But their cost is several times lower.
- All the bedrooms are located on the second floor. There can be a very large number of them: bedrooms for each owner, for guests, children's rooms and much more.
- If the residential building had only one floor, then thanks to unusual shape("hollow squares" or "hollow rectangles") bedrooms were located at the very end of the house (the back side).
Today everything is more practical. Estates can also have several floors, only the shapes have become more acceptable (square, rectangular).
What were estates built from and modern building materials for their construction?
Estates of that time were built from practical and durable materials:
- Natural stones.
- Clay.
- Concrete solution.
- Priming.
- Wood.
Natural stones were in most cases processed, since it was quite difficult to use their natural form. Clay has long been used in construction residential buildings because it is environmentally friendly pure material, which is particularly durable. Thanks to its properties, it helps maintain a constant temperature in rooms.
The concrete mortar of that time was very durable and was used to construct the walls of the building (masonry joints). Quite often it was used to pour the foundation for a building. At the moment, you can’t do without such a solution. It is used for both foundation and masonry building material. In principle, technology has not changed.
Soil has also been used for a long time. But such construction took too long and every year the technologies for such construction began to become outdated and such materials were replaced by more modern ones.
Wood, as it was used previously, is still used today. Projects of wooden estates are very diverse. All buildings of this type are distinguished by their environmental friendliness and durability. All of them are durable and a large number of estates from past centuries have survived to this day.
At modern construction There are several types of log laying and wood processing itself.
Currently used for construction:
- Profiled timber.
- Rounded timber.
- Untreated log.
The latest version of the material, just like the previous ones, goes through a processing and drying process.
The popularity of buildings in the form of an estate
Project "Russian estate" for last years began to gain great popularity. They are built on almost every suburban area, which has big size. The main role with such a design is landscape design. It is necessary to properly plan the space on the site first. You can adhere to the same planning principles as before, only slightly reduce the scale of construction.
It is worth considering that maintaining estates is quite expensive, since you will definitely need the services of professional gardeners, repairmen, and so on. But this is provided that the house and plot are very large. Even if the scale of the building is not too large, then you can cope with maintaining order yourself.
To build high-quality, durable and beautiful house, you can’t do without a reliable construction company. She must have great experience and a good reputation in the market.
Construction company " Russian Manor Traditions» is engaged in the construction of houses, cottages and bathhouses, and also provides wide range various construction services. This page is the official website of the company " Russian Manor Traditions", here are house designs, a list of services, and a description of construction technologies.
If you require construction services, contact the company " Russian Manor Traditions" We build turnkey houses. In this case we use various materials and technology, depending on the house project chosen by the customer.
Our services:
- architectural and structural design;
- provision of construction materials;
- home construction;
- connection of utilities;
- internal and external finishing.
Construction technologies
SIP panels
This material allows you to build Vacation home without spending a lot of time on it. SIP panels have excellent strength characteristics, are easy to install and meet fire and environmental safety requirements. We offer favorable prices for construction services using this technology.
Profiled solid timber
This material is ideal for the construction of suburban wooden house. You can also use it to build a bathhouse, a summer house or a guest house on the site. Profiled massive timber are chosen by people who require a strong and durable home with good thermal insulation qualities.
Glued laminated timber
Houses made of laminated veneer lumber are used in great demand. This material is manufactured according to special technology, reducing the risk of cracking and deformation of walls. In the company "Russian Estate Traditions" you will find many projects of houses made of laminated veneer lumber.
Rounded log
Houses made from rounded logs turn out to be very beautiful. They do not require mandatory expensive exterior decoration, since this material is beautiful in itself. We have extensive experience in the construction of houses of this type and know how to create a reliable, durable structure with excellent thermal insulation properties.
Frame houses
Frame technology is considered one of the most affordable. The construction of such a house is reminiscent of working with a constructor, where each part is connected to each other using special fasteners. Over the past few years, the Russian Estate Traditions company has built several dozen houses using frame technology.
Ceramic or gas silicate block and brick
If for some reason you do not want to build wooden house, give preference to blocks or bricks. Such a house will be strong and durable. We can provide you standard project or develop a unique one according to your requirements.
Geography of activity
The company "Russian Estate Traditions" carries out the construction of houses throughout the Moscow region, including the southern direction from Moscow along the Simferopol highway: Chekhovsky, Serpukhovsky and Zaoksky districts.