At 10 Bankova Street, there is a house that is hard not to notice: its facades are covered with elephants, rhinos, crocodiles, frogs and sea monsters – a whole fantastic bestiary in concrete. This is the “House with Chimeras”, built in 1901-1903 by architect Vladislav Gorodetsky – for himself, according to his own dreams. Gorodetsky was passionate about hunting and put his African temperament into the facade. The sculptural decorations were made by the Milanese master Elio Sala, and inside the guests were greeted by a marble staircase, stained glass windows with hunting themes and stucco with octopuses and dolphins – everyone who entered the lobby said that they felt like they were at the bottom of the sea.
Legends immediately began to form around the house. The most popular is that the architect built it in memory of his daughter, who drowned at sea. In fact, Gorodetsky’s daughter outlived her father by several decades. Another legend says that the house was built on a bet: colleagues considered the idea crazy – after all, they were building on a steep slope, driving piles five meters deep. But Gorodetsky won. Today, the official residence for receptions of the President of Ukraine is located here, but the house, as before, belongs primarily to chimeras.