White Dacha
| Белая дача | |
 |
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| Established | 1898 |
|---|---|
| Location | 112 Kirova st., Yalta, Crimea, Russia/Ukraine |
| Type | Memorial house |
| Collection size | Anton Chekhov's family objects, photographs, literary material |
| Architect | L.N.Shapovalov |
| Website | A.P. Chekhov House-Museum in Yalta, official website |
The White Dacha, (Russian: белая дача; Ukrainian: біла дача) is the house that Anton Chekhov had built in Yalta and in which he wrote some of his greatest work. It is now a writer's house museum.
The White Dacha was built in 1898 following Chekhov's success with The Seagull. He took up residence there after his father's death and to aid him with coping with tuberculosis. Chekhov planted a variety of trees including mulberry, cherry, almond, peach, cypress, citrus, acacia and birch. He also kept dogs and tame cranes.
The house was designed by L.N. Shapovalov. Aleksandr Kuprin described the house as follows,
It was, perhaps, the most original building in Yalta. It is all white, pure, easy, beautifully asymmetrical, ... with a tower, and unexpected ledges, with a glass veranda below and an open terrace above, with scattered broad and narrow windows... ".
V.N. Ladygensky mentioned that "a dacha in Crimea, in Аutka, near Yalta, was validly constructed, excellent". From the study one can see the seafront that inspired "The Lady with the Dog", and at the back the scene that inspired the setting of The Cherry Orchard is visible. He also wrote the Three Sisters and The Bishop on the site.
After Chekhov's death (1904) the house was looked after by his sister, Masha, until 1921 when it became a museum. During the Nazi occupation Maria Pavlovna refused to leave and put up pictures of Hauptmann (the German dramatist) any "a...dramatist" on the wall and refused to let a German officer move into her brother's rooms. Nothing went missing but the house was damaged by one of the last air raids on the area by the Luftwaffe.
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Wikipedia