The House of Sevastyanov in Yekaterinburg, which may be easily called a palace, is on the east bank of the City Pond on Lenin Avenue. And although there remained some other mansions of the 19 century around the City Pond, Sevastyanov`s House is distinguished by its monumentality and a beautiful combination of the Gothic and Moorish styles.
The first record of the house on the corner of the City Pond dates back to 1817. But then its size and finish were much more modest and the famous round rotunda appeared only in 1829. It is believed that the first owner of the house was a mine surveyor I. Polkov. Then the house many times changed its owners until it was acquired by а collegiate assessor N. I. Sevastyanov in 1860. Sevastyanov was an official of the mining department. He made his fortune on the delivery of the production of the Ural metallurgical plants during the Crimea War.
He spent most of his money on the extension and decoration of the house, which went down in history as Sevastyanov`s House. An architect A. I. Paduchev decorated the house with a complicated Moorish ornament and Gothic features. The rotunda, which was also added a belvedere, was decorated most richly.
There are many stories about Sevastyanov`s House. According to one of the stories, Sevastyanov wanted to finish the roof of the rotunda with gold. However, Emperor didn’t allow him to do it telling that only the domes of churches could be finished with gold. According to another story, Sevastyanov was actually very modest and rented his house living in a small dwelling.
In 1880 Sevastyanov got a promotion and sold his house to the treasury before his move to St. Petersburg. It was occupied by the district court, commissariat for labour and trade unions. In 2008 after the reconstruction Sevastyanov`s House was made the Residence of the President of the Russian Federation in Yekaterinburg.
