Relive Past on 'Dead' Lane

Stand just north of Ulitsa Prechistenka on the corner of Starokonyushenny Pereulok and what is now Prechistensky Lane. The old name, Mertvy (Dead) Lane, from a church graveyard, was removed in 1937. It was then renamed after N.A. Ostrovsky, the blind Soviet author who wrote the classic communist novel, "The Steel is Tempered." In 1991 the lane was again renamed, but Mertvy was avoided and the more neutral Prechistensky was chosen.This is an unusual spot in Moscow because it is mostly residential, and the large houses of the 1910s are a favorite choice for embassies. It also boasts a sculptor's studio and the rich residence of one of the legendary merchant families. In summer the street is overwhelmed by low-hung branches from the uncontrolled trees that flourish on the pavements.In front, marking the corner, is the splendid rotunda with the paired Tuscan columns and shallow dome of a fine, neo-classical house, No. 6, now the Embassy of Austria, which squeezes brilliantly into the narrow plot without losing its sincerity. Part of a development of three large mansions by an enterprising construction company, it was designed in 1906 by Nikita Lazarev, who also built the apartment blocks at 23 and 29 Arbat. Its first inhabitant was Nikita Ivanovich Mindovsky, the owner of Volga Manufacturing Company. Curiously, the fine Art Nouveau mansion by Kekushev on Povarskaya, now the Embassy of New Zealand, was also built by the same company and purchased by Ivan Alexandrovich Mindovsky, apparently Nikita's father.A second floor was added in 1913 which altered the exterior but within, the main hall facing Prechistensky Lane retains its elegant columns, fireplace, parquet floors and decor. After the revolution, Red Army archives were kept here until it became the Embassy of Austria, the only embassy to own rather then rent its premises. In the late 1930s it was the residence of the German minister in Moscow -- after Austria was incorporated into Germany -- and much of the negotiations over the Molotov-von Ribbentrop pact took place here.The second of these mansions is next door, No. 8, now the Moroccan Embassy. Built of glazed brick, the structure is strictly symmetrical with charming, undulating reliefs over the main door and windows. It was built in 1902 by William Walcot, the English architect who was born in Russia and studied in St. Petersburg, and who designed the Metropol Hotel. After the revolution it came under the purview of the Foreign Ministry. During the war, Winston Churchill apparently stayed here on his visit to Moscow in 1944. Conveniently, Anthony Eden stayed at No. 10, the next house in this row of distinguished mansions.No. 10, visible through the trees, was built in 1900, the first of the trio, and is also by Walcot, who was only 25 when he drew up the plan. Its Art Nouveau leanings are clear in the entrance set at an angle to the street, the square tower and flower motifs in the glazed tiles. Appropriately, it was connected to the arts and crafts center at Abramtsevo through its owner, Maria Fyodorovna Yakunchikova, responsible for the workshops there and a relative of Savva Mamontov, the founder of Abramtsevo. It is now the Embassy of Zaire.Just behind in a little square is a sculpture of Vera Mukhina, herself a famous sculptor, who made the gigantic Worker and Peasant statue for the 1937 exhibition in Paris that now stands on Prospekt Mira. Her studio, where she also lived, was located in the large cube-like building, No. 5A, just behind the ruined wooden 19th-century house that is opposite the Austrian Embassy. The studio has large windows on one tall floor to accommodate her work.To the far right is the green end corner of the once grand estate of the Konshins, fabulously rich textile merchants from Serpukhov, which is now the House of Scientists. The old house was thoroughly rebuilt in 1908 by Alexandra Konshina, the widow of the Serpukhov textile king Ivan Nikolayevich. On becoming a widow she sold the factories and lavished a fortune on her house. Alexander Gunst, the architect, added a sumptuous winter garden, an enfilade of rooms, and gates with haughty lions on Ulitsa Prechistenka. In 1922 the rich mansion became the scientists' club and in 1930 an ugly entranceway was added, obscuring the lines of the building. The furniture and fittings, however, are mostly undisturbed and for one of Moscow's more bizarre moments you can attend a concert in the over-decorated rooms or have a modest (and amazingly cheap) meal in the splendor of the former winter garden.?©Kathy Berton Murrell