Restoration of the basement
March 31, 2023
Lovers of Bulgakov who visited the places from The Master and Margarita in Moscow were always amazed at the state of the master's basement at No. 9 Mansurovsky Road. In the novel, the master rented «the basement of a detached house with a garden with a lilac bush and a linden tree in a small street near the Arbat», and he was quite proud of the sink with running water. But whoever saw the house could only see an inaccessible and dilapidated building.
The cottage was built in 1834 and it is a miracle that it is still there. It is very run down and certainly does not look like a place where you want to live.
In Bulgakov's time, the house belonged to the brothers Sergey Sergeevich Topleninov and Vladimir Sergeevich Topleninov, and Bulgakov often visited it. In the early eighties it was already partially restored by the artist Vladimir Kursky and even a writer's corner appeared in memory of Mikhail Bulgakov. However, after Kursky's death in 1985, no one cared about the unofficial monument. The cottage remained in use as a home, but it was hardly maintained.
So that is about to change now. The Moscow mayor's website announced today that restoration of the master's cottage has begun, although it is not known when the restoration will be completed or what its final destination will be.
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