Gribushin`s House is one of the most beautiful modernist buildings in Perm. It is believed that this house is mentioned as the «house with figures» in the novel «Doctor Zhivago» by Pasternak. The front side of the mansion is decorated by numerous women heads of various age.
The founder of the House of Gribushin Mikhail Gribushin was a top guild merchant from Kungur. He dealt and tea and sugar and was well known all over the Urals. He died in 1889 leaving his wife a big fortune and a smoothly running business. The widow established the trading house «Gribushin`s heirs» and managed to triple its returns. And at that she was a mother of 10 children. The head office of the company was still at Kungur. Later Sergei Gribushin took over a business and moved to Perm.
Sergei Gribushin bought and completely reconstructed this mansion in 1905. It was then that its facade was decorated by the famous «figures». Today Gribushin`s House is a splendid example of modernist architecture and art moulding. The walls of the building are made of two different materials: brick and larch.
The stucco works in 18 rooms and on the facade of the mansion were done by Pyotr Agafyin, a gifted self-taught master. Originally, the women heads had different faces. According to a version, the master depicted Gribushin`s daughter at different ages. However, during the restoration most of the heads were made after the same model.
