Literary and Memorial House Museum of F. M. Reshetnikov

Brief Information

The Reshetnikov House Museum is important not only as a memorial site connected with the writer. Its biography began before the museum and even before its connection with literature: in 1839, construction was begun by the merchant Fyodor Karnaukhov, who was engaged in stone cutting. So what stands before the viewer is not a purpose-built museum, but an old urban house that was later given a new role.

The most unexpected turn is connected with postal history. At the end of the 19th century, the house belonged to the family of the city postmaster Kalinovsky, was rented out, and in 1889 thirteen unmarried postmen were registered here. After this, the information about the house reads differently: the memorial museum grew out of an ordinary residential and service space. In 1991, it was opened for the 150th anniversary of Reshetnikov, after restoration and the transfer of the building to the museum.

What to Notice First

It makes sense to look at the house as a former estate, not only as a museum shell. The two-story stone volume with a mezzanine defines the residential part, while the stable, carriage house, and other service buildings show that the plot functioned more broadly than just the formal house. The stone service buildings and bathhouse appeared by 1880, under Dmitry Khlopin; this utilitarian line helps connect the different buildings with one another.

It is also worth noting the restored courtyard buildings and fence. During the restoration, the walls were reinforced, the roof was replaced, rotten wooden window and door openings were replaced, and interior partitions were removed. These details matter because the museum’s appearance here is assembled from what has been preserved and restored: the stone base, service buildings, openings, and fence make it possible to see not only the memory of the writer, but also the structure of a 19th-century urban house.