The renovations of the Dacha have been completed, and Tsar Ivan VII will be the first monarch since Nicholas II to visit this once destroyed building.
Being a member of the local newspaper, our team on Fontanka’s City Life department has been invited to an exclusive interview with the Chamberlain of the Ministry of the Imperial Court as he shows off the brand-new interior decorations and furnishing.
the dacha is a 2-story house on a raised base with yellow exterior and white stucco accents on the window treatments and columns, capped by a green patinaed roof.
The foyer featured stained beech wood boiserie panels and octagonal marble tiles. There is a rococo grandfather clock which seems to be a hint of the styles to come in the anteceding rooms.
The dining room is the first room we shuffled through. The room was spacious and large enough to accommodate quite a few people if the need arises. The large round table draped in cloth in the center of the room seemed smaller than it was! Two black marble fireplaces flanked the door from the foyer. The door across the room leads to the Blue Room and the Yellow Room.
The Blue Room is decorated in blue satin jacquard with white wood panels at the base. There are dark stained wood furniture with blue fabric and gold gilding. This room will be used as a sitting room and office for the Heir to use. The Yellow Room features stunning bright yellow jacquard broadcloth and lined with gold and white panels. The chairs and chaise longue feature a beautiful yellow floral embroidery. The Aubusson carpet displays a brilliant motif that enhances the colour of the room. The addition of instruments such as a harp, a xylophone, and an 18th century wood marquetry piano completed the conversion of this room into a music room.
Back across the dining room is the Alexander II Cabinet. A favourite of Alexander II this room was covered in carved dark wood panels. The furniture was dark wood with blue floral patterns. This room will serve as the Tsar's office. Thru the small door is a small staircase called Alexander's Ladder which gives access to the second and third floor of the dacha. on the other side of this small room is the Tsar's Dressing Room.
This small room has white French boiserie panels, red upholstered furnishings and a large French chifforobe with marquetry inlays and gilding. The door next to it led to the former Tsar's Valet Room but now is home to a water closet for the Tsar.
This room once housed the Tsar's valet but has been converted to a private water closet for the Tsar. Behind me is a small door that leads to a room with a shower and a toilet. The door on the right leads to the foyer and can be seen in the previous foyer photo as the door under the stairs. We will continue the tour and head to the second floor.
The second-floor landing was the same boiserie we saw in the foyer only now painted in a muted yellow with white accents. A gold rococo pendule hangs on the wall and there are orange satin stools and drapes. A bronze statue of the Idolino of Pesaro stands on an arabescato marble pedestal. The ceiling decorated in stucco moulure trim and is painted with gold leaf. The large door takes us to the Living Room and the smaller door takes us to the Library.
The spacious room was styled in the rococo taste with gold gilt French boiserie and gilt furniture with white fabric and floral embroidery. The door across the room leads to the Imperial Bedroom.
Immediately you a struck with the bold imperial purple colour that comprises this room! The striped fabric design is everywhere in this room, and I personally delight in the use of purple. What better way for our Tsar to sleep thank surrounded with this regal colour? The small door to the left of the bed leads to a water closet, while the door on the right of the bed leads to her Majesty's Bathroom.
Blue and white moiré silk lines the walls with gold framing and gold and white panels. There are large mirrors on either side of the room with shelves decorated with small Sèvres porcelain vases and urns. A dressing table on one end of the room and a sofa on the other. The furniture features roman and flora embroidery. At the end of the room is a large carved marble bathtub set in an alcove.
across the Living Room we arrive at Her Majesty's Cabinet. The walls are paneled wood with painted medallions. The neoclassical furniture is upholstered in green embroidered fabric. There is a desk in one corner and a fireplace in the other. The small door leads to another set of service staircases that lead to the basement and up to the attics. This is used by the servants mostly to get around unseen. across from the service stairs is the Library.
red striped wallpaper with white panels lined the room. The furniture was upholstered in the same red striped fabric. The walls filled with 18th century paintings. The small door leads back to the second-floor landing, but we will double back to the service staircase take it to the attic floor and go to Her Majesty's dressing room.
The largest room on the attic floor, this room was used to store the Tsarina’s clothes and as a place for sewing can be done by her Majesty’s chambermaid. The room was simply dressed in modest pictures covering the simple wood paneled walls. two large armoires flanked an alcove where a table was set up with a sewing machine.
At the completion of our tour, we were allowed to see the garden park at the rear of the dacha.
(Special thanks to @lusitansims who goes by PalaceSims in gallery for the shell build of this beautiful piece of Russian history. and a special thanks to all the creators who work tirelessly for us to be able to furnish and style our worlds. @stereo-91 @thejim07 @cliffou29 @themarblemortal @felixandresims @strangestorytellersims @simmerofthedawn @irinaseverinka @itskingfalcon and countless others <3
