In Sestroretsk, the destroyed dacha of the lawyer who defended Gorky and Trotsky will be restored

In the city of Sestroretsk, Leningrad Region, the destroyed country house of Lydia Fertig, in which the lawyer Oscar Gruzenberg, known for legal processes involving politicians and writers, lived, will be restored. According to the Committee for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, other development on the site from Lesnaya Street, 9 is impossible.

The involved experts consider it unreasonable to include the ruins in a single register as a monument. The Council for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage at Smolny recommended agreeing with the conclusions of the experts.

“At the same time, the building is historical, and in accordance with the current legislation, its external appearance must be restored,” the press service said.

The working group came to the conclusion that the dacha forms a street front. A draft design for the restoration of the external appearance will be sent to Smolny, where they will discuss the future of the dacha together with city defenders.

Let us add that in 1907, the artist of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Lydia Fertig, rented the site for 99 years. The attorney at law in the transaction was a lawyer, social activist Oscar Gruzenberg, who defended Maxim Gorky, Korney Chukovsky, Lev Trotsky and others in courts. He was also the actual tenant.

The country house was built in 1907–1909. The project of the building was created by the architect Sergei Ginger.

In 1920, the dacha was transferred to a children’s sanatorium. During the Great Patriotic War, it was destroyed by a shell. Subsequently, the house was repaired, extensions were added to it. It housed a hairdressing salon, a hospital and a recreation center. In 2008 the dacha burned down.