HISTORICAL BUILDINGS
RESIDENTIAL HOUSE OF YEGOR KHANZADYAN
1896, 1905
State index: 1.6.178.4.4
Architects: Vasily Mirzoyan, Boris Mehraban
The residential house is situated at 3/1 Abovyan
Street, located in the intermediate section of Abovyan, Pushkin, and Old
Yerevantsi Streets.
According to the 1896 real estate assessment of
Yerevan, the land plot owned by E. Khanzadyan was 225 square sazhen (an old
Russian unit of length, approximately 2.134 meters). The house was positioned
at the intersection of Astafyan (now Abovyan) and Tarkhanov (now Pushkin)
Streets.
Construction of the building began in 1896. By 1905,
two new wings were added on the sides facing Tarkhanov and Sadovaya (later
Lalayants, now Old Yerevantsi) Streets. The ground floor was home to the
renowned textile and haberdashery store "Saxony," operated by Egor
Khanzadyan, which had been in business since 1877.
In 1923, the house was nationalized and subsequently
underwent various internal remodelings over time.
The two-story house features four apartments (two on
each floor) and includes a basement. The intense development of the surrounding
area, with the plot bordered by streets on three sides and Old Yerevantsi
Street intersecting Abovyan Street at an angle, led to a modification of the
original layout. The building now has an almost L-shaped configuration, with
dimensions of 27.2 meters along Abovyan Street, 18.8 meters along Pushkin
Street, and 17.2 meters along Old Yerevantsi Street.
The right wing of the building contains asymmetrically
shaped rooms with harmonious proportions. The rooms are arranged in two rows
and one row, with sizes of 36.2 square meters and 28.0 square meters, and a
height of 3.7 meters. A notable feature of the building is the orientation of
the main part of the rooms toward the streets, which is uncommon in perimeter
developments.
The main entrance, featuring a vestibule and
staircase, is located on Abovyan Street and provides access to the inner
courtyard. There is an additional entrance on Pushkin Street. The facades
facing the courtyard are framed by corridors up to 2.6 meters wide. The
building includes three balconies, measuring 2.6 meters and 1.2 meters, which
overlook the streets.
The facades—southeast, southwest, and partially
northeast—feature band-like, roughly hewn masonry. The masonry is deeper on the
first floor and lighter on the second. The artistic design emphasizes
horizontal articulation, characterized by a three-step plinth, inter-floor
bands, and, on the second floor, a wall with niches under the windows and a
cornice adorned with rows of dentils.
The main entrance on the southeast facade is
highlighted by vertical wall articulation, a semicircular vaulted entrance, and
upper window openings, all accentuated by rough masonry and horizontal bands. A
similar gable is arranged over the wide arched window on the southwest facade.
The remaining openings are rectangular, with decorative scrolls on the middle
vertical window frames. The balconies feature metal lattice railings.
The building features load-bearing walls constructed
of hewn tuff on the street-facing facades, with less processed stone used on
the other facades. The courtyard facades are plastered. The ceilings are flat
and wooden, while the roof is pitched and covered with metal. The vestibule
floors are finished with ceramic tiles, and the courtyard balconies are made of
wood.
The house has been inhabited by Soviet state and party
officials, including A. Shakhsuvaryan and F. Vardanyan. In the 1940s, the
second floor was occupied by the Council of People's Commissars and the Central
Executive Committee of the ASSR. Additionally, some scenes from the film Orchestra
Boys (1960) were filmed here.
“Scientific Research Centre of Historical and Cultural Heritage” SNCO
Yerevan Municipality