Mansions of the Yusupovs in Europe - Finland, France etc

Dear Ellenln,

Where exactly is the chateau?  I am going to France next year and I would love to visit it. Is it open to the public regularly?

Thank you
Amelia

amelia .... it's on the west coast of bretagne .... outside the town of concarneau near quimper ......
the megiliths of carnac are in that general area too if i remember correctly ..

the owner is restoring it so not all is open to the public but there are guided tours.

Dear Elleneln,

Thank you for the information.  I am going to try and get there. The photograph is so beautiful and I really want to go see it.

Amelia

Does anyone know anything about Yssupovs mansion in Helsinki, Finland?

So sorry about the spelling mistake. I have heard that Yussupovs used to have a mansion in Helsinki. I remember that someone once said that what is now known as the residence of ambassador of United Kingdom is it. In Helsinki openair museum you can find Yussupovs staepels. Please let me know if anyone know anything more about this.

I have never heard of any Finnish palace, I'd be interested to know more.

Antti, you can find information about the Yussupov villa at the British Embassy site:

http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1046948955661

There is even an old photograph of the villa. It was called Rauhaniemi ("Peace cape"), built in 1844. Duchess Zaneida (Zinaida) Yussupov bought the buiding site near Kaivopuisto baths and it was situated excactly where the British Embassy is now. There were rumors that Duchess Yussupov wanted a residence near the Suomenlinna (Viapori) fortress, where his lover Captain Isakoff was serving at the time.

A Russian architect made the first drawings for the villa, but they were completed by architect A.F. Granstedt. It was a building of 4 floors, "extremely luxury along eastern tradition". There were 15 rooms and one big salon. In the garden was a smaller villa and neogothic  stable building, which is at the Seurasaari open air museum now.

The villa was sold many times during 1800's and was a residence of some famous industrians and businessmen. The original villa Rauhaniemi was demolished between 1912 and 1916.

Katia

Something just clicked within me!!! If i am not wrong, Felix in his book "Lost splendor" does write about his great-grandmother that she bought a house overlooking the fortress so she could see her lover everyday. It was not wrong after all!!

Here is the history of the Villa in English:
http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1051782248400
BobG

hello,

Even if Keriolet is looking like a french castle , the princess never forget her own contry,on the top of the main facade we can see a sculpture. It is a symbol, an animal.....a bear looking toward Russia!!!

The first owner of Keriolet - Princess Zinaida Ivanovna Yusupova, Countess de Chaveau.

To begin the Chateau in Finland, built by Zenaida Youssoupof, great grandmother of Felix F., when her lover was locked Helsinki

Built in 1844, there could 15 rooms and a reception room. Destroyed in the 1910s, the land was shared among several owners (the UK Embassy, French Embassy, among others) and the physical place of the house was built the Embassy of the United Kingdom.



PS: the information and photos of the castle have been communicating by Van Heyden

Merci, thank you Alexandre

I can add that the interior was lavishly ornamented with gypsum, french chandeliers and french wall paper. People at the time described the house as an "extravagant monstruosity in the oriental style".
it was destroyed in the 1910s ( most probably 1917). THe only remain is a stable/barn having been displaced to a open air museum in Helsinki. Just saw it 1 week ago.


Alex, perhaps you can add some other estates having belong to the Yusupovs?

What is stylish in one Century may sound garish in another. I would love to have seen it...I have appreciated some of the colors the reds, blues and greens, of c. 1900-1917  years and I am thinking of the Egyptian decor of the French Empire that was considered extravagant and ugly. It would certainly have been interesting to  view French Wallpaper in an Oriental decor! Perhaps it looked a little like the Oriental Decor of the eighteenth Century popular in Parlors in Connecticut etc.

Here is a recent photo of the team of the Yusupov Palace in Helsinki, the only remnant of the property:



PS: Photo of Rudy de Casseres