TO THE BIRTHDAY OF VLADYSLAV HORODETSKYI: the final resting place of the outstanding architect
Horodetskyi’s monument in the Passage. Photo: Olga Kosova / vechirniy.kyiv.ua
Vladyslav Horodetskyi, a renowned architect, was born on May 23, 1863, in the village of Sheludky in the Podolia Governorate (now Vinnytsia region, Ukraine). He graduated from the Imperial Academy of Arts with the title of third-class architectural artist, granting him the right to design buildings. In 1891, he moved to Kyiv, where he launched his brilliant career.
He built structures across Ukraine but died homeless. He drove a convertible car, traveled through Africa, soared into the sky with Sikorsky, and built for tobacco magnates, first-guild merchants, and Austrian entrepreneurs. In old age, he was forced to emigrate to Poland. He spent most of his conscious life in Kyiv — the greenest city of the empire — and found his eternal rest in Tehran.
THE BEGINNING OF A GREAT ADVENTURE
T
he commotion began as soon as he purchased fifteen hundred square meters on Bankova Street. Rumors spread instantly that Vladyslav Horodetskyi had decided to build an income-generating apartment house on a steep slope on unstable, restless ground. Friends unanimously tried to dissuade him from the risky venture.
His fellow architect Oleksandr Kobylev even grew hoarse trying to explain how pointless the idea was, but Horodetskyi wouldn’t budge — he stood his ground, and so they made a bet. A baffled architect, Volodymyr Leontovych, acted as referee. Vladyslav smiled cheerfully and promised that in two years’ time, he would astonish everyone with true beauty — one the people of Kyiv couldn’t imagine even in the wildest of dreams.
And so it happened. The architect reinforced the slope with concrete piles and pads and built a bizarre structure: a cube-shaped house. Each floor contained only a single apartment. On the roof, he installed elephant and crocodile heads. Lizards, a python, and giant frogs were added as well.
Then came the women. The characters weren’t placed at random — they were set up to converse, argue, or even start a fight. Of his creation, he said: «The house may be strange, but there won’t be a single person who walks past without stopping».
Luxury reigned inside as well. At the entrance stood an octopus; a bit further — lotuses and a fish with its tail upturned. A catfish-shaped lamp. Spiral staircases, stained glass windows, polygonal halls. Walls paneled with alder wood. Pineapples on the ceiling. Closer to the floor — gazelles, crabs, starfish, giving the impression that you weren’t in a house but on the ocean floor.
In addition, the house had an elevator, a refrigerator, central heating, and stoves tiled with unique ceramic tiles (fifty-two stoves in total). Each apartment came with a garage, an icehouse, and a pantry. A personal wine cellar, a woodshed, a stable, a carriage shed, a room for the coachman, and even a cowshed. That’s why for breakfast, young and old alike drank fresh milk — straight from the cow.
On the day of the grand opening, Oleksandr Kobylev publicly took off his hat and bowed his head before the master. Horodetskyi, along with his family and servants, was already living in the new house, having taken over the entire bel étage (Apartment No. 3, 380 square meters). He had designed his home cleverly: the first rays of sunlight fell into the servants’ quarters to get them up early and working. By midday, the sun shone into the architect’s office; in the evening — into the living room, where guests were welcomed.
Visitors were speechless at first, overwhelmed by the interior. On the ceiling hung a massive bouquet of multicolored irises, and the stove, decorated with roses, gave off a warm, fragrant aroma. In the dining room, the table overflowed with delicacies, while overhead, there was a model vegetable garden. It had everything: garlic, artichokes, beets and carrots, pumpkins and corn.
Once, the architect invited friends over, roasted a boar, and poured wine into glasses. He sat in the corner, watching as his guests whispered to each other with envy. He recalled how it had all begun.
FROM MAUSOLEUMS TO CHIMAERAS
It all began not with palaces and apartment houses but with designing outhouses in backyards. The young man had just graduated from the Imperial Academy of Arts and received the title of third-class certified artist with the right to construct buildings. He settled on Zolotovorotska Street in Kyiv but had no connections or patronage. Love came to the rescue.
While strolling along the bustling streets, he met a beautiful girl, Kornelia, who looked like a Gypsy. She was the daughter of a first-guild merchant and the owner of two wineries in Kurenevka. The two were drawn to each other, eventually married, and her father helped him find his first clients — who happened to be the dead (Vlad designed gravestones for Baikove Cemetery). Then came a shooting range, dams and sluices on the rivers of Volhynia, and a zemstvo hospital.
With time came real commissions. The architect built sugar refineries, churches, exhibition pavilions, hotels, income houses, and even a furniture factory. Kornelia gave birth to two children: a daughter, Helena, and a son, Oleksandr.
In addition to introducing new construction techniques and materials — concrete, cement, reinforced concrete, steel, bored piles for foundations — Vladyslav also designed dresses and hats for his beloved and costumes for the actors of the Solovtsov Theatre. He combined not only sculpture, stained glass, and majolica but also silk, brocade, and draped fabrics. He created sketches for ceiling panels, cufflinks, curtains, carpets, opera glass cords, and ladies’ screens. He used the most unexpected materials in his work.
He considered the construction of the Continental Hotel, which he designed in collaboration with a colleague, to be a particular success. It was no different from the fashionable hotels of Europe. One hundred comfortable rooms were spread across four floors, all accessible by electric elevator. Guests dined in a luxurious restaurant, pondered eternal questions in the winter garden, enjoyed the billiard room, and expanded their knowledge in four reading rooms.
The building featured luggage storage rooms, safes for valuables, autonomous steam heating, ventilation, and electric lighting. Hot water spurted from taps in the bathtubs. In the summer garden, a lighted fountain delighted the eyes of the guests. The cost of staying there was fifteen rubles — a factory worker’s monthly wage. Among its guests were the father of many children and possessor of a deep bass voice, Feodor Chaliapin; dramatic actress Vera Komissarzhevskaya; and the controversial poet Konstantin Balmont.
Following the refined hotel came the Karaite Kenesa, St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral, the Bendersky income house, the Jewish gymnasium, the Blue Palace in Cherkasy, and the Vyshnevskyi Palace in the Ternopil region. The architect designed about thirty buildings in Kyiv. He built a villa for himself in Yevpatoria, a carbon dioxide and artificial ice factory in Simferopol, and a mausoleum for the Potocki counts in the village of Pishchera.
PRIVATE LIFE AND FASHIONABLE TASTES
He always appeared carefree. Tall, slender, with a charming upward twist to his mustache. He wore Parisian suits and quality shoes. He loved milk and was often seen strolling down Khreshchatyk with a milk can. He adored coffee — frequenting «Passage» to enjoy it. He drove an expensive convertible adorned with lacquer, silver, and mahogany. He wore leather clothing: shorts, a cap, a jacket, or an elegant coat.
Around his neck — a glamorous scarf; on his feet — lace-up boots with high tops. The look was completed with driving goggles and a monkey on his shoulder. Dressed like this, he drove down Khreshchatyk for the first time, leaving behind a stunned crowd. Horses reared and nervously struck the pavement with their hooves. Coachmen crossed themselves. Passersby pressed up against the walls.
The architect parted with money easily, always remembering that money is like water. In his childhood, back when the family lived in Zhabokrych, they had everything: a mill, a brick factory, a palace with a billiard room. But when Vlad turned ten, his father went bankrupt. They had to sell the four-seater landau, the horse, and the piano. The family bundled up their belongings and moved to Sheludky (his mother’s family home). It was there that Vlad promised himself a dazzling career and a high standard of living.
He kept his word — he surrounded himself only with refined things. He was among the first in Kyiv to own a telephone, a car, and a yacht (a sailboat that awaited him in Naples). At the theater, a box was always reserved for him. In his free time, he created engravings and rather decent watercolor landscapes. He even published his own book about his journey through Africa.
He was friends with aviator Igor Sikorsky, whom he often visited оn Yaroslaviv Val. He went on safari. His final journey lasted almost a year: four months to reach Kenya from Kyiv, four months to return, and only two months spent hunting.
EMIGRATION AND FINAL YEARS
He lived in the House with Chimaeras for ten years, and when he moved out, it seemed he had cursed it — every tenant after him ended up bankrupt. Just before the outbreak of World War I, the architect was plagued by ominous premonitions. He wound up his affairs, halted construction projects, and emigrated to Poland with his wife Kornelia. He left almost penniless, with no means to support himself, and had to start from scratch.
He lived for a while in Warsaw, where he opened his own architectural bureau, but it failed. Toward the end of his life, he moved to Iran, where he designed the Tehran railway station, which to this day greets passengers from around the world. Two years later, he passed away and remained forever in Tehran — a city of the finest carpets, turquoise, and pistachios. Opium and tobacco.
His gravestone bears a humble inscription: «Professor of Architecture. May this foreign land lie lightly upon him».
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