The Kazan house where Fatikh Amirkhan lived 100 years ago will be restored in autumn

The restoration of the Kolodkina’s House on Zhukovsky str., 13 is planned to be completed in autumn. A hundred years ago, an outstanding Tatar writer and public figure, Fatikh Amirkhan, lived in this house. Now recognized as a cultural heritage site, the “amber house”, as it is called by the Kazan citizens, is undergoing the final stage of restoration. Today, the progress of work was inspected by the Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin. “It is always hard to believe that it is possible to breathe life into such historic buildings. But the great creative work of builders and restorers is amazing”, - the head of the city said.

The building was built at the end of the XIX century, until 1913 it belonged to a noblewoman Lyudmila Kolodkina. Fatikh Amirkhan lived in this house from 1916 to 1926. He also worked here. The house was recognized as a cultural heritage site of regional significance in 2018.

“It is symbolic that the restoration of this house is planned to be completed in the year of the 100th anniversary of TASSR. After all, Fatikh Amirkhan is not only a well-known writer and publicist – he was one of the first Tatar activists who supported the formation of the TASSR, - Ilsur Metshin said. – This is a historically significant building, valuable to the history and culture of our city, our people. We hope that it will soon please all citizens”.

The investor of the restoration is the owner of the building – Director of Osnova DK LLC Eduard Koltun, who purchased the house in 2013. In addition to the Kolodkina’s house, he also restores other historical buildings in Kazan.

The restoration work began in 2015.

“We want to create a kind of memorial room in the premises where Fatikh Amirkhan lived. Not a museum, but a public area- a cafe, for example, – said I.Karpova. – So that the mood, interior and decor elements will convey the atmosphere of that time. We have photos of the wallpapers, stucco, decorations were like-we want to restore this interior”.

The Kolodkina’s house has a very rich construction history: in the late XIX – early XX century, it has been twice completely rebuilt.

On the walls of the house, you can still see special packers, which were used to strengthen the walls and foundations by pumping the restoration compound under pressure.

The Mayor also visited the yard, which the owners call the smallest in Tatarstan. The head of the city recommended the owners to establish a small cozy café.

After completion of the work, restaurants and cafes are planned to be located on the first and second floors of the building. “We suppose that 3-4 cafes will be located on each floor, each with an area of 40-50 sq. m, with a kitchen and common areas and entrance. The working title is GastroDom”, – said E.Koltun to the Mayor.

“It's great that you are thinking about the functionality in advance, that you have a lot of good ideas. So, all the action will be here, in the historical center,  - the Mayor said. – We once started working together on restoration of historical buildings, under the leadership of our President restored the first cultural heritage sites. We were taking our first tentative steps at that time. Today, you have already grown professionally in your approaches to restoration, in the depth of studying the historical heritage. With all our imagination, despite the fact that we have already restored many buildings, every time we are surprised, comparing before and after. Thank you to all who contribute to this work”.

Presently, the most difficult restoration work is over. Now the builders are entering the final stage of work: finishing, interior design and others. All work is planned to be completed in autumn.