After reading many of the other topics on this board, it seems there would have been plenty of palatial homes in St. Petersburg and Moscow that would have been suitable. Until I became interested in the Alexander Palace, I never knew about all the beautiful buildings and mansions in Russia! A guy working at the Subway Sandwich Shop in my town (Asheville, NC) is from Russia, and of course I asked him if he had ever been to the Alexander Palace, and he said yes, but no details. I felt like maybe he was thinking of a different palace, or was not in a talkative mood.