Front view of the wooden Rukavishnikov mansion at Rozhdestveno. It miraculously survived two wars, a revolution, a civil war and many other mishaps. After perestroika, it housed a small Nabokov exhibit. When the photographer (Dieter E. Zimmer) visited it in the summer of 1990, it looked fine, but extremely combustible. And burn down it did, in April 1995. Go here for a view of the mansion in 1997, under reconstruction. (Follow this link for rear view of the mansion.)

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