Nabokov House - History of The House

History of The House

It is a medium to large townhouse, built in the 19th century, in the Neo-Renaissance style. Between 1897 and the October Revolution the house was the property of the Nabokovs, who had obtained it as a dowry of Elena Rukavishnikova (Vladimir Nabokov's mother). Vladimir Vladimirovich lived in the house until November 1917. The house is meticulously described in his autobiography The Other Shores and Speak, Memory. For Vladimir the house remained the only house in the world. Subsequently, even when he grew rich, he never acquired any other house and preferred to live in hotels.

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