Name
Central Peasant House
Years of construction
1912
Architect
Address
4, Pavlivska Square
Space of stylistic transformations
Central Peasants' House At the beginning of the XX century, there were two two-story profitable buildings on the front part of the plot next to the square. It belonged to the noble Venediktov family. In 1911, Adam Piotrowski had bought this property. In 1912, he hired architect Borys Korneenko for major reconstruction of it into a 4-story apartment building with an inner courtyard. The building had an original silhouette with a folded roof and the facade decoration in Art Nouveau style. The ground floor housed a restaurant, and the first floor - the Imperial Hotel. In 1911 (the 50th anniversary of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko’s death), the liberal wing of the city council decided to honor the memory of the poet, who was banned in the Russian empire. It was planned to erect an obelisk column in the Ukrainian style with a bust of a poet. The implementation of this project was postponed and then hampered because of an official ban on celebrating the 100th anniversary of Shevchenko's birth on March 9, 1914, and, soon after, World War II began. The idea was realized only in the early 1920s, in the former house of Piotrovsky, which housed the publishing house of the newspaper "Poor Peasant" (since 1921 - "Selyanska Pravda" - Peasants' Truth). At that time the name of the Imperial hotel on the bay was changed to the Central Peasant's House, Soviet symbols appeared on the pediment of the building, and under it, in the dormer, there was a small bust of Shevchenko in a fur coat and a peasant's hat. In the early 1920s, Kharkiv was a center of literature life of Ukraine. The Union of Revolutionary Peasant Writers "Pluh" (which means plough) ) was founded on May 8, 1922, at the meeting at the Peasants' House. Serhiy Pylypenko, the editor of "Selyanska Pravda", who lived on the third floor of the same building with his mother and sister, was the constant head of the organization. And the building became a real home for the best Ukrainian writers of that time. (That Renaissance of Ukrainian literature is called Executed Renaissance now - the generation of Ukrainian writers and artists of 1920s and early 1930s who were performing in the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic and were executed or repressed by Stalin's totalitarian regime. Serhiy Pylypenko and many of his colleagues were accused of "right opportunism" and repressed. The organization of rural writers "Pluh" was closed by authorities). As for the building itself, in the 1920s the facade of the Peasants' House was simplified: mascarones, friezes, rosettes, window frames, and other modern decorations were taken off. This happened because of a new style, ascetic and dynamic constructivism, that become very popular. During the war, the former Peasants' House was not damaged, although there were ruins around it. The building temporarily housed the post office. Several renovations of this historic building have finally simplified its appearance, depriving it of its original features. After reconstruction in 1992, the building housed the Kharkiv Bureau of Technical Inventory, and part of the first floor was given for commercial purposes. The history of this Kharkiv architectural gem remained forgotten until 1998, when the artistic community of the city installed a memorial plaque in memory of Serhiy Pylypenko, designed by the writer's youngest daughter, Mirtala. On August 23, 2020, after four years of reconstruction, the building at Pavlovska Square, 4 opened its door. The architects tried to restore the historical facades lost in the 1930s and bring back decorative elements that used to be there. The task wasn't fully achieved due to a lack of such experience of architects and builders. But, in general, they were able to return the once almost completely lost appearance of this building that is important for history and the architecture of Kharkiv. Vladislav Prylutsky
Central Peasant House / Restaurant, hotel / Real Estate
Kornienko B. / 1912 / 4, Pavlivska Square
State institutions / Influence of Ukrainian folk architecture, Influence of classical art
No status / Preserved
Romanticism of Industrial Revolution
Influence of classical art
Constructivism
Art Deco
Influence of Ukrainian folk architecture
Influence of European Modern architecture
1.Справочно-адресная книга «Весь Харьковъ». Изд.Элькина. - Х.; 1912-1914.
2.Материалы к проекту реставрации Крестьянского дома. Архив кафедры РРАО ХНУСА.
3.ШЕЙКО В.М. ЕВОЛЮЦІЯ ПРОВІДНИХ ЛІТЕРАТУРНИХ ОБ’ЄДНАНЬ УКРАЇНИ У 20-Х РР. ХХ СТ.: КУЛЬТУРОЛОГІЧНИЙ АСПЕКТ. Культура України. Випуск 38. 2012.
4.ЛІТЕРАТУРНА МАПА ХАРКОВА 1920-1930-х рр. За підтримки Харківського літературного музею / Код доступу : http://proslovo.com/map
5.ПИЛИПЕНКО СЕРГІЙ ВОЛОДИМИРОВИЧ (1891–1934). Музейний комплекс ХНУМГ ім. О.М. Бекетова. Код доступу: https://museum.kname.edu.ua/index.php/uk/struktura/muzei-khudozhnia-halereia/8-struktura
6.Ярина Цимбал. Хороші люди і квартирне питання.16.04.2016. Код доступу: http://litakcent.com/2016/04/16/horoshi-ljudy-i-kvartyrne-pytannja/
7.З архіву: об’єднання селянських письменників і початок українізації (1922-19230. Проект Укрінформу з нагоди сторічного ювілею агентства: «100 років – 100 новин» 2.03.2018 https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-society/2424443-z-arhivu-obednanna-selanskih-pismennikiv-i-pocatok-ukrainizacii-19221923.html
8. У Харкові після чотирирічної реконструкції відкрили будинок нерухомост (фото). Код доступу: https://times.kharkiv.ua/uk/2020/08/23/u-harkovi-pislya-chotiririchnoyi-rekonstruktsiyi-vidkrili-budinok-neruhomosti-foto/