mansion (620 m2) on the Riga seaside Vita Polkovnikova, Ina Kulikovskaya, Marite Cola

Passing the gallery

A photo: Karen Manko

Text: Evgeniya Tikhonova

Interior author: Maritý Cola

Architect: Inna Kulikovskaya, Vita Polkovnikova

Magazine: (81) 2004

The building, which can be considered the "great-grandfather" of this house, was built in Jurmala in the XIX century. However, the state of the foundation of the house-veteran was found to be unsatisfactory, so instead of reconstruction, which was planned at the beginning, the architects decided to rebuild it according to the old drawings that remained. According to Latvian laws, houses located on the coastal territory at a distance of three hundred (and less) meters from the sea should retain their historical appearance. But the conservative two-story mansion with the main entrance, decorated with columns, and two spectacular bay windows, the officials allowed, as an exception, an additional turret. From its top floor overlooking the romantic seascape. This new perspective gives a special and architectural and philosophical completeness to the house, in Baltic style, carefully inscribed into the landscape of the coastal strip. It can be said without exaggeration that the house built right on the dune is an exquisite example of landscape architecture, all the more natural because the hills are a bright affiliation of the local relief. Thus, the very idea of ​​placing a part of the house facing the sea on the dune was hardly perceived in the 19th century as a spectacular architectural device: it was more likely a necessary measure for the development of the landscape. But now, being in a different temporal and cultural dimension, such architecture can be read as an implicit allusion, for example, to the well-known “House over the Falls” built by FL. Wright. Directly in the hill, in the basement, the architects made an underground garage. This was the best solution, given the structure of the site and the location of the house on it, but in the design process there was one significant but. To the garage there was no entrance. Again, according to the laws existing in Latvia, to pave the road, which has never existed and which, accordingly, does not appear in the documents, is strictly prohibited in the coastal zone. Incredibly, in the archives it was possible to find evidence that in the XIX century here, right next to the current garage, there was a street on which the fishermen lived. The road was restored exactly according to the drawings, thus solving the problem with the entrance. The whole process, including coordination, design and construction, took a little over a year. As a result, the internal space of the house as a whole has retained the traditional layout, which fully corresponds to the overall setting on historicism: on the ground floor there is a hall, living room, dining room and kitchen, on the second floor there is a bedroom. However, the open spaces, the glass plane of the hall, furniture and light are particularly modern. Agree that in such a context the historical theme sounds even more vivid.Vita Polkovnikova: "The house on the Baltic Sea has an interesting story: it was restored according to the drawings of the XIX century, preserved in the archives. At the same time, the interior of the house is modern, which only underlines its architectural and historical charm. In addition, it is exceptionally well integrated into the local landscape"