How did a Russian ‘izba’ hut end up in… Nice, France?

In 1869, Pavel von Derviz, a Privy Councilor, concessionaire and railway builder, purchased 10 hectares of land in Nice, on which he built the Valrose Estate with a neo-Gothic chateau and laid out a picturesque park. Money was no object: business was so well that he was even nicknamed the ‘Russian Monte Cristo’.

One could spend an entire day strolling through the park: a formal French garden gives way to a landscaped English one, a palm grove to Brazilian agaves, the sound of cascading waterfalls and gazebos and sculptures lined the paths. And then there was the ‘izba’ hut. The owner of Valrose had it transported by sea from one of his Russian estates. Not only did it remind him of his homeland, but it also served an educational purpose. Its facades were decorated with carved proverbs: “There lives a year when there are seven kinds of weather in a day” and “Beer is not a miracle and mead is not praise, but the most important thing is that love is dear”.

Today, the Valrose Estate houses the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis.