In Irkutsk, after nearly 20 years of restoration, the main house of the Sukachev museum estate has opened to visitors, once the citys cultural center and art gallery.

Restore a 19th-century manor from ruins. Such a task was set before Irkutsk restorers 20 years ago. They succeeded. Today, the main house of the Sukachev Museum-Estate opened to visitors in Irkutsk.
Recreating the appearance of the main house of Vladimir Sukachev’s estate as it was during the owners’ lifetime was the task facing the architects and restoration builders. There was a winter garden, a billiard room, a music salon, but the house’s main purpose was an art gallery that all residents of Irkutsk could visit. In Soviet times, workshops and a kindergarten were located here. The building changed its appearance dramatically. Restoration took about 20 years. The wooden carvings, staircases, and even the anchor on the roof were restored. A symbol of hope, resilience, and constancy.
- This is our good fortune: we have preserved photographs taken by Sukachev himself before he left Irkutsk. He photographed the places dearest to his heart. These included views of the Baikal region, several views of the estate, and, most importantly, several shots of the art gallery, says Natalia Goncharenko, head of the department of the Irkutsk Regional Art Museum "Sukachev Estate".
Vladimir Sukachev donated all his paintings, as well as the estate, to Irkutsk. During all 14 years he served as city head, he was engaged in charity and patronage. Together with his wife, he opened a school for children of poor parents. He founded an art museum. His house was the cultural center of Irkutsk in the second half of the 19th century. The estate began to be built in 1882 as a country residence. The manor house, servants’ quarters, guest wing, carriage house, stable. A total of 17 buildings. Only 5 have survived. It was with great difficulty that the Irkutsk public managed to save them. From time, people, and fires.
- These were truly ruins, and many in positions of power had an unbearable urge to bulldoze everything. They said the site should be cleared for a park area so that these rotten little huts and wooden shacks would not get in the way, says Vladimir Kitaev, chairman of the Irkutsk regional branch of the Society for the Protection of Monuments.
As historians and museum staff say, Irkutsk is one of the few cities where it has been possible to preserve monuments of wooden architecture. In the future, they plan to restore other buildings on the estate as well. They also plan to erect a monument to Vladimir Sukachev and his wife Nadezhda as a symbol of love and tenderness. It will bear lines from a preserved note in which Sukachev confessed his feelings to his wife in four languages.