White Dacha

The White Dacha, (Russian: белая дача; Ukrainian: біла дача) is the house that Anton Chekhov had built in Yalta and in which he wrote some of his greatest work. It is now a writer's house museum.[2][3]

White Dacha
Белая дача
Established1898 (1898)
Location112 Kirova st., Yalta, Crimea, Disputed between Russia and Ukraine[1]
TypeMemorial house
Collection sizeAnton Chekhov's family objects, photographs, literary material
ArchitectL.N.Shapovalov
WebsiteA.P. Chekhov House-Museum in Yalta, official website

Building

The White Dacha was built in 1898 following Chekhov's success with The Seagull. He took up residence there after his father's death and to aid him with coping with tuberculosis. Chekhov planted a variety of trees including mulberry, cherry, almond, peach, cypress, citrus, acacia and birch. He also planted roses such as 'Cheshunt Hybrid', 'Cramoisi Supérieur', 'Gloire de Dijon', 'La France', 'Madame Joseph Schwartz', 'Madame Lombard', 'Princesse de Sagan', Rosa banksiae f. 'Lutea', 'Souvenir de la Malmaison', 'Turner's Crimson Rambler'[4]..., and kept dogs and tame cranes.[5][6]

The house was designed by L.N. Shapovalov. Aleksandr Kuprin described the house as follows,

It was, perhaps, the most original building in Yalta. It is all white, pure, easy, beautifully asymmetrical, ... with a tower, and unexpected ledges, with a glass veranda below and an open terrace above, with scattered broad and narrow windows... ".

V.N. Ladygensky mentioned that "a dacha in Crimea, in Аutka, near Yalta, was validly constructed, excellent".[5][6] From the study one can see the seafront that inspired "The Lady with the Dog", and at the back the scene that inspired the setting of The Cherry Orchard is visible. He also wrote the Three Sisters and The Bishop on the site.[5][7][6]

Museum
Chekhov in the study at the White Dacha

After Chekhov's death (1904) the house was looked after by his sister, Masha, until 1921 when it became a museum. During the Nazi occupation Maria Pavlovna refused to leave and put up pictures of Hauptmann (the German dramatist) any "a...dramatist" on the wall and refused to let a German officer move into her brother's rooms. Nothing went missing but the house was damaged by one of the last air raids on the area by the Luftwaffe.[7]

Museum funding issues

The Soviet government, as with other such heritage sites, diligently looked after the house but following the breakup of the USSR, the responsibility for the house's upkeep came under dispute. Crimea became an autonomous republic within Ukraine. The museum falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture of the Crimean Autonomous Republic and their budget is extremely small. The Ukrainian state authorities would like the Russian government to pay for upkeep since Chekhov was Russian, but the Russians do not agree. The house has now become dilapidated.[7] On May 11, 2010, Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, ordered that repairs and restoration work be carried out on the house.[8]

Noted visitors

Chekhov was a noted host and entertained Leo Tolstoy, Feodor Chaliapin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Maxim Gorky at the Dacha.[9][10] Leonid Kuchma and Vladimir Putin and their spouses visited the museum in 2003.[2][7]

See also

References
  1. This place is located on the Crimean peninsula, most of which is the subject of a territorial dispute between Russia and Ukraine. According to the political division of Russia, there are federal subjects of the Russian Federation (the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol) located on the peninsula. According to the administrative-territorial division of Ukraine, there are the Ukrainian divisions (the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city with special status of Sevastopol) located on the peninsula.
  2. "History of the House-Museum". Anton Chekhov Foundation/Yalta Chekhov Campaign. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  3. "The House That Chekhov Built". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  4. Roses Crimea
  5. "History of the House-Museum". Yalta Chekhov Campaign. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  6. "Chehov's House-museum Website". www.yalta.chekhov.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  7. Pennington, Michael (2008-11-20). "Restoration drama: How Chekhov's home has fallen into disrepair". The Independent. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  8. "Yanukovych gives range of orders to Crimean government". Kyiv Post. May 11, 2009. Archived from the original on May 13, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  9. Sarah Johnstone (2008). Lonely Planet Ukraine. p. 206.
  10. Benedetti, Jean, ed. (1998). Dear Writer, Dear Actress: The Love Letters of Olga Knipper and Anton Chekhov. Methuen Publishing Ltd. pp. 37, 270. ISBN 978-0-413-72390-1.

Further sources
  • Bartlett, Rosamund (2004) Chekhov: Scenes from a Life (London: Free Press)
  • Chute, Patricia (1998) "Anton Chekhov: The House in Yalta and the Final Years", Harvard Review, No. 15 (Fall), pp. 119–123

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