Issues of the Outbuildings Construction Administration during the Livadia Estate Reconstruction in 1910–11

Abstract

The article studies the history of creation and development of one of the Crimean residences of the Romanov dynasty, the Livadia estate. Drawing on materials of the Russian State Historical Archive, the author reveals aspects of interaction and relationships between the employees of the Livadia-Massandra appanage administration and officials of the Main Administration of Appanages of the Ministry of the Imperial Court and Appanages during construction and reconstruction of outbuildings in Livadia in 1910–11. This work was purposefully entrusted to the staff architect of appanage administration G. P. Gushchin, who was granted indulgence in his official duties in order to complete the construction in time and give his account. The author points out that, despite these measures, the first difficulties arose at the stage of preparing design specifications and estimates. The article focuses on the visits of the Main Administration of Appanages officials sent from St. Petersburg in order to get acquainted with the actual state of affairs. The article notes that the head of the architectural department A. A. Stepanov always took part in these inspection trips. Each visit revealed some shortcomings in the organization of construction by G. P. Gushchin. The first two visits showed up insufficient number of assistants in the architect’s staff and delay in construction or reconstruction of individual buildings. The third inspection, which took place two months before the deadline submission of works, identified miscalculations in design specifications, requiring allocation of additional funds. The author notes that the deadlines were indeed violated, and there was a lag in preparation and submission of reporting documentation. The article points out that the Main Administration of Appanages not only had to give instructions on the procedure, but to issue repeated orders to send the necessary documents. The last of the identified letters denied G. P. Gushchin his final payment for the works due to his failure to submit a complete account. The study of the features of the outbuildings construction administration in Livadia in 1910–11 shows that preparation of design specifications, supervision of and accounting for the works proved almost a greater problem than the actual construction.