This gorgeous carved house was known for being tenanted from September 1913 until April 1914 by a Frenchman – Moisei Vlasovych Shambon who moved to Chernihiv from Russia with his wife and three daughters. Shambon taught French at the Chernihiv Realschule, i.e. a kind of a secondary school, having held the same post in St. Peterburg, previously.

Built in 1913, the house was brand new when Moisei Vlasovych moved in here. At that time, its facade or the front of the building was facing Piatnytska Street, which is hard to believe looking at this mangled part of the house today. A century ago, it had five windows decorated with charming wooden lace and a porch. Only one window out of those five preserved its original appearance. The main porch hasn’t survived, as well. Fortunately, you can still behold the house’s former beauty where it faces Sofia Rusova street. Here, on its north side, the building is preserved much better. From the yard, more precisely on its south side, the house could boast a beautifully designed veranda which wasn’t destined to live to our time.

According to its present-day inhabitants, for the most part of the 20th century the house was home to Olena Horielaia – a daughter of the first owner, whose name is still to be determined. Allegedly, she possessed the original house documents from 1913.

Despite the fact that Shambon resided in Chernihiv for just a few years, until 1921, he managed to make a significant contribution to future investigations of Chernihiv’s old appearance. Point is that Moisei Vlasovych was into photography and has created one of the biggest picture collections of our city of the early 20th century. In his photographs he captured the daily life of his family and friends, panoramic views of the city, its streets, squares, as well as revolutionary events.

Precisely because of the revolutionary events Shambon had to return to France taking his photo album along. After Moisei Shambon’s death the photo album remain in his family. After establishing contact with Shambon’s descendants who still live in France, historians managed to obtain electronic copies of those pictures. At present, the latter can be seen at the Chernihiv Historical Museum.

For more information on the wooden architecture of Chernihiv and ready walking routes please visit https://demer.cn.ua/en/