The Mamonovo estate is out of danger. The Skolkovo Foundation has decided to restore the early 20th century estate located on the grounds of the future innovations centre.
© Collage: The Voice of Russia
The Ministry of Culture of the Moscow Region has started a formal assessment procedure, so as to determine whether the estate is an architectural monument. The ministry is also studying the history of the estate because so far there is very little information about it. It is known that the estate was constructed in the early 20th century in the neoclassical style and belonged to merchant Gusev. In Communist days it was a countryside holiday centre. All this is of no consequence for the Skolkovo Foundation because the official status of the estate will not affect the foundation’s attitude to it, the foundation’s Vice President Alexander Chernov says.
“The estate is located on our grounds, it is very beautiful and we would certainly like to restore it and to use its premises to the full advantage. There is no point in using it as an office building because it was meant to be a country house. I suppose there were music rooms there, possibly boudoirs. Unfortunately, the layout was ruthlessly changed during the Communist days and now we are in no position to decide how we are going to use the estate in the future. After it has been restored we are most likely to use it as an art gallery or exhibition hall, as well as the site for various social events. However, the restoration will take a long time and require great investment.”
“The public movement Our Skolkovo was the first to make a fuss about the Mamonovo estate in social networks. Its activists asserted that the construction of the innovations centre would destroy the historical building. The Skolkovo Foundation hopes that its latest decisions will pacify the activists, Alexander Chernov says.
“Those activists are people who are concerned about the estate’s future but in my opinion, they are a little exaggerating the danger. I hope they are on our side and not against us. We are all interested in restoring the estate. The tragic element in their words could be ascribed to their high emotions.”
Apart from merchant Gusev’s estate, there is another architectural monument on the Skolkovo grounds. It is the foundation of an 18th century structure which is supposed to have been one of the wings of the countryside palace of Prince Alexander Menshikov, Peter the Great’s friend and associate. Interestingly, no one cared for the Mamonovo estate before the Skolkovo project started to develop.
Source: Voice of Russia