Mansion of Baron Kelch in St. Petersburg

Mansion of Baron Kelch in St. Petersburg
This mansion, built for Alexander Kelch, in his day one of Russia’s richest men, was designed by three different architects each of whom contributed their own ideas and solutions. The splendid facade takes its inspiration from French Renaissance models, the courtyard is predominantly Gothic, the servants’ quarters are art nouveau, while the interiors opt for the ornate luxury of baroque and rococo. All of this was put together in 1903, making the Kelch Mansion an archetypal example of the turn-of-the-century trend for eclecticism in Russian architecture, especially in St. Petersburg.