The Kotelnikov House — a historic building at 64 Ilyinskaya Street, a cultural heritage site that belonged to the merchant Kotelnikov. In June 2024, the building was completely demolished following a fire and a change of ownership.[2]

History and Status

The building stood on Ilyinskaya Street — one of Nizhny Novgorod's principal merchant streets, where Historic Buildings have been preserved. Thirty-two buildings on Ilyinskaya Street are listed as cultural heritage sites; the Kotelnikov House was among them. In 2013, construction work carried out behind buildings at nos. 60, 62, and 64 Ilyinskaya Street adversely affected the condition of all three; the neighboring buildings — no. 60 (the merchant Chesnokov's house, built in 1890) and no. 62 (the noblewoman Voytkevich's and merchant Pachkunov's house, built in 1872) — were subsequently restored, while the Kotelnikov House was never rehabilitated.[2][1] Prior to its loss, the building was in regional government ownership. In February 2016, the city administration announced that the house would be put up for auction: an investor could lease the building for five years rent-free and, upon completion of restoration work, purchase the city's 23% share and take full ownership.[2] In 2022, restoration under a government contract began.[2]

Fire and Demolition

In January 2023, a fire broke out in the building while it was under repair and burned for several hours. The remains of the house were covered with reinforced sheeting and a commitment was made to restore it. However, in January 2024, the damaged mansion was sold at auction for 15 million rubles to a private company.[2]

The buyer turned out to be Kompleks-Restavratsiya LLC, registered in April 2023 in Moscow with a statutory capital of 20,000 rubles. The company's general director and beneficiary was Aleksandr Seledkov; the company's accounting records were zero at the time of the transaction. The same Seledkov was the beneficiary of a company registered in Nizhny Novgorod engaged in non-hazardous waste collection and holding a license to handle non-ferrous scrap metal.[2]

The regional authorities issued the new owner a permit to carry out preservation works on the cultural heritage site, requiring the company to conduct scholarly research, take measurements, photograph the building, and preserve any architectural elements discovered. Nevertheless, in June 2024 the house was razed to the ground in the course of so-called emergency stabilization works.[2]

The Kotelnikov House was built in 1870; the building's floor area was 352 square meters.[2]

Sources

  1. Kommersant (Volga Region) — The "Merchant Kotelnikov's House," sold for 15 million rubles, demolished in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
  2. V Gorode N — The Kotelnikov House on Ilyinskaya to be put up for auction on March 4 — The Kotelnikov House was built in 1870; the building's floor area was 352 square meters. (archive)
  3. Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — 2,382 meters of history and contrasts: a walk down the merchant street of Ilyinskaya in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)