Vul. Staroyevreiska, 10 – former "Harayevychivska" house

The original name of this street is connected to the butcher’s trade.  The earliest indicators of its existence come from 1436 with a reference to Zarvanytsia Street.  Over time, the name went through variations of the word – Zarvanska, Zervanska, Serbanska.  In 1863, a section of the street between Servska and Halytska, where building #10 is located, came to be called “Wexlarska”, and from 1888 it was joined with Novozhydovska (pol. Nowożydowska) and Kapitulna, and extended from Teatralna all the way to Arsenalska, under the name of Boyimiv (pol. Boimów) Street.  During the soviet period (from 1944), the Street was called Frunze, and beginning in 1990 – Staroyevreyska.

The oldest building on this lot dates from the 15th century, of a gothic type, timber-frame with brick inlay and a masonry cellar.  According to property registers from 1569 and documents dating from 1573, the building was called the Harlewyczivska Manor.  A merchant, Albert Harajowicz, bought the house in 1597.  He had moved to Lviv from Bushkovych near Mostytsk and was granted municipal citizenship.  On the old foundations and cellar he raised a new structure, characteristic of renaissance stone homes of the period, two-sectioned, double tract construct from white stone.  In Lviv almanacs dating from 1639-1666 the house is referred to as the Harayevychova or Haravevychivska House.  In 1767, the owner was Armenian bootmaker Bedros Lissohorycz.  Near the end of the 18th century, with the boom in Lviv construction, the Harayevychivska House underwent capital reconstruction.  Preserving the façade, the building was given a new architectural layout, the main entrance placed in the central bay, separate from the main foyer and stairs.  Facing the yard, WCs were added on two floors.  At the start of the 19th century, a Jewish family took ownership of the house.  Documents from 1851 show that the owners were Lejb Finkler and Abram-Yosel Railses.  In 1863 the honey shop Naftali was located on the main floor.  The restroom was in very poor condition as the following episode illustrates: a man named Stefan fell through the toilet and landed in the shop.  In 1866 the city gave the owners permission to add a third story lavatory, the project drawn up by Jakub Zwilling.  In 1871 the owners were Ovadia Finkler, Abram-Yosel Railses, and Dwora Berlstein.  In 1881 a proposed remodel draft called for the reconstruction of the attic, raising the roof from 2.6 meters to 5 meters, installing dormer windows, and lighting for the stairway.  In 1890, the contractor Leopold Warchalowski redrew the design for the main floor shop window for a high-end store run by Samuel Hirsch Berlstein.  Abram Awin’s shop occupied the building in 1902, where it was joined by Y.B. Gimpel, director of the Jewish Theater, furrier Lejb Baczys, and men’s tailor Simche Fruks.

Following World War I, Isaak Rudy became the owner and leased the main floor to a number of different craftsmen, shops, and stores.  In 1926, house tenant B.S. Hiffnik planned for the remodeling of the main floor area (currently the front room of flat #6) into a shop and warehouse (currently the passageway into the yard) – the project drawn up by Mark Lakser.  Entrance to the store was from Staroyevreska Street.  The passage into the yard lay in what is currently flat #1 (the back room).  In 1932, the building housed a jeweler’s.  Documents show that the owner was Laura Blic petitioned the city to allow her to display costume jewelry in a façade niche, arguing that, without advertizing the firm will go out of business.  She received a six-month permit to display her goods in the entrance niche.  In 1935 the plumbing and sewer line of the building were rebuilt, the project drawn up by Mecislaw Lozynskyi.  In 1937, the house’s owner, Isaac Rudy, let the entire ground floor to Leon Schlafrig for his belt and bag shop, “Tip Top”.  Wide entrances with windows were opened into two of the areas.  Schlafrig also petitioned to place advertizing on the building façade near the gates.  The project was drawn up by engineer Wladysław Bleim.

During soviet times the main floor was converted into living quarters, with the two doorways remodeled as windows.  In 1990 the Ukrzakhidproektrestavratsiya Institute conducted a comprehensive study of the building, and architectural and archaeological assessment and developed a project to restore it to its Renaissance roots (Ihor Ambitskyi, lead architect).  In 2000, the façade was fully restored.