Vul. Bohomoltsia, 03 – residential building

The house is located at the corner of a green square on Bohomoltsia street. It is a residential townhouse built in the early 20^th century with the use of modern building materials and constructions as well as with connection to electricity, water supply and sewerage. The building is characterized by a more comfortable planning than townhouses built just a decade earlier: all utility rooms like kitchens, bathrooms, and toilets are located inside the apartment and not in the back part of the wing with access through galleries. When planned, the plot’s area, which is quite small (slightly larger than 15x15 m), was used to the fullest extent possible. With this in view, the front staircase is located at an angle; a small courtyard is connected to a neighbouring courtyard belonging to the building № 5; winding service stairs are placed in the courtyard. The building is notable for its decorative solution in the Secession style influenced by the Vienna architectural school of Otto Wagner. Forged elements of intricate shapes, bright majolica tiles, some reinterpreted classical architecture forms were used in the façades and interiors decoration.

The building has three floors and basements; the walls are built of brick and plastered. There are Klein vaults in the basements; intermediate floors and balconies are made of reinforced concrete. The roof has a structure made of wooden rafters and posts and is covered with tin painted in dark red colour (originally it was covered with tiles). Forged elements, majolica tiles of iridescent violet colour and stucco are used in the façades décor.

The building is L-shaped in plan and has a common courtyard with the neighbouring house № 5. The main entrance is located in the south façade. Through the portal one can get to a small entryway with several steps, an elongated dark corridor and a staircase with stairs having wheeling steps. According to the original project, there were two apartments on each floor: a five-room one and a four-room one. Each apartment had a kitchen (with windows facing the courtyard), a bathroom, and a toilet. Back winding stairs were arranged in the courtyard, through which one can get to the gallery and thence to the kitchen.

In the terms of volume and space the building’s accent is a rounded corner highlighted by a balcony and topped by a Secession-style attic. The slight projections on the edges of the both street façades are completed in a similar way. On the ground floor level the façades are decorated only with banded rustication. The upper floors windows have cornices under them and lines of majolica and stylized linear recessed pediments above them. On the third floor level, there are friezes made of the same tile and moulded stylized flowers above the windows.

Balconies are constructed of artificial stone slabs and are supported by forged metal cantilevers in the form of stylized plants. The façades are crowned with overhanging cornices of a simple profile with a line of exaggerated egg-and-dart ornament instead of a classical frieze.

There were not many changes in the building during the 20^th century, except some internal alterations, so its authentic design has largely been preserved. Most windows have been replaced, but a considerable part of the original woodwork has survived. The upper glass panes of these windows have thin transoms and mullions applied to their surface as a decoration.