In 1938-1939, in the central part of the city of Vladivostok, in the immediate vicinity of the Maritime Station, two buildings were erected and commissioned - houses number 17 and 19 on Aleutskaya Street (then it was called the 25th of October). Both of these houses were popularly called the "Gray Horse". We will talk about how this name arose, as well as about the features of architecture and the structure of buildings in this article.
A bit of history
The construction of the 17th house was supervised by the young architect Alexander Poretskov, who created many more buildings in the city. Most of them later became architectural monuments. The construction of the second house, which was commissioned a year later, was carried out under the supervision of architect Nikolai Bigachev.
Apartments in one of the buildings were intended as housing for local railway workers, and in the second - for needy policemen, border guards and NKVD workers. They were nicknamed - the "railway" house and the "police".
Nowadays, the "Gray Horse" in Vladivostok is one of the most famous city buildings. Both of these houses are included in the register of historical and architectural monuments of federal significance. They are protected by the state, although they remain ordinary residential buildings.
By the way, when they pronounce this name, as a rule, they mean house number 17. In the next there are no sculptures, it seems boring and does not cause enthusiasm.
Architectural features of the era
I must say that according to the general plan developed by Boris Vasiliev, the then chief architect of Vladivostok, the center of the city was supposed to be built up with Stalin-style empire houses. Such houses have already been erected in Moscow. But the Vladivostok plan was approved only in 1938, and it is clear that the Great Patriotic War prevented its full implementation.
The roof of the "Gray Horse" of Vladivostok is decorated with iconic sculptures for the socialist era. This is a collective farmer, a Red Army soldier, a pilot and a miner. Well, in the yard - a girl with an oar.
All these statues, of course, symbolized the unity of the Red Army and the working class.
Features of the building
Houses under the general name "Gray Horse" were the first skyscrapers in the city. Over the usual 3-4-story building for those times, they rose by the same amount, that is, they had 7 and 8 floors. And the ceilings in the apartments of these giants were 3.5 meters high, which made the buildings even more impressive.
But these innovations were not limited. The first garbage chute in Russia operated in the houses, with individual exits in each kitchen. According to the initial plans of the architect, the garbage was to go down to the basement, where it was supposed to be burned. Due to the heat received from the mini-incinerator, the whole house had to be heated. It is a pity, but later this innovative idea was abandoned.
Each apartment had two balconies, a large dressing room, a spacious hall and a kitchen. In addition, the rooms were furnished before the occupants.
There was also a boiler house, which allowed providing residents with hot water on a weekly basis.
The heating in the house was stove. Modern residents, as a rule, have already disassembled the stoves for a long time.
According to the recollections of the new settlers, on the roof of the houses with which a magnificent view of the city opened, there was also something like a playground. Of course, they did not put swings and slides, but the children used to play there, and the mothers hung clothes to dry.
As confirmation, we cite an excerpt from an article in one of the newspapers, which admirably told that the apartments of the "Gray Horse" of Vladivostok
equipped with warm toilets and elevators, on the ground floor there is a shooting gallery, hairdresser, laundry, children's and gymnasium. At the last - even a solarium ...
There was also a kindergarten at the houses. There was also a project according to which it was supposed to open a restaurant on the roof. The project remained a project, but a large fountain was built in the courtyard.
Why is the "gray horse"?
Indeed, what does the horse have to do with it?
There are plenty of histories associated with the emergence of the name of the buildings "Gray Horse" of Vladivostok.
According to one of them, which is considered official, the houses were initially given the names "Red Hill" and "Gray Horse" - in honor of the forts located in the Leningrad Region. This refers to the Kronstadt uprising against the Soviet regime in 1919, which was successfully crushed by the Red Sailors under the command of Stalin.
And according to another, the most common version, the sailors, receiving a salary, as well as celebrating meetings and parting, had fun in the dining room restaurant, located at the end of the seventeenth house. They were the Baltic people, who moved to the Far East, and here they called, nostalgic, the catering point "Gray Horse" - by the name of the fort there. And the name stuck to new residential buildings. Initially, the houses were pink, but a couple of years after the surrender they were smeared with soot - so they turned gray with a view of disguise.
And in the history of the "Gray Horse" of Vladivostok, one gray horse actually appears. She allegedly often stood idle at a local tavern. Snoozing, the animal was waiting for the owner, a certain Semenych, who loved to miss a glass or two in this institution.
There is another version, even less likely, but still. According to her, on the roof of one of the buildings, either the 17th, or the 19th, there was a statue of a horse. Whether it is true or not is now not known for certain.
Well, finally, and one more - folk, humorous. The virgin with the oar, whose sculpture adorned the courtyard of the seventeenth house, was supposedly too moronic and corpulent, which is why the wit and nicknamed her "horse". They later got rid of the statue, but the name remains.
At home today
The buildings still look majestic, but quite dilapidated. The last thorough repair affected only the shaft and the elevator car. It was held in the 80s of the last century. There was a report on the repair of the facade, which was held in the year of the APEC Summit (2012). The roof, too, was patched up because it was leaking.
However, the repair was carried out poorly - in the process, the builders violated the storm sewer, as a result of which the house began to be flooded periodically. To all appeals to the city authorities and the management company, officials respond that the overhaul of the buildings will take place. He was appointed to 2041. You just have to wait.
By the way, there is no sewage system in the house. Instead, no matter how wild it may sound in our time, there is a large cesspool under the house that has not been cleaned for a long time. The house as a monument of architecture is on the balance sheet of the federal authorities, so the city repair services can not do anything with the fact that the basements are constantly in a half-flooded state.
Kindergarten, fountain and sports ground have long been gone. The passage to the roof was blocked. Hostels were opened in the houses, and now their guests sometimes litter and make noise.
In addition, the Writers Union of the Primorsky Territory, a bookshop, cafe and a beauty salon function in the buildings.
We talked about the history of the house "Gray Horse" in Vladivostok.