Potential owners of elite living space are shocked by the “palace” interior invented by the ballerina.
Anastasia Volochkova is ready to rent the apartment for almost a third of the initial cost – if only they bought it!
Volochkova has not been able to sell her apartment in the center of St. Petersburg, next to the Mikhailovsky Theater, for four years already. Even a strong price reduction, which the ballerina decided on quite recently, does not help.
Now for a four-room apartment with an area of 196 sq. meters, which in 2011 was estimated at 250 million rubles, Anastasia asks for “only” 89 million, but there are still no buyers.
Too bright and pompous interior will scare away buyers
The fault lies in the overly pompous interior, created with the active participation of the ballerina: the abundance of gilding, mirrors, painted ceilings, stained glass windows and stucco decorations a la the royal palace does not delight, but rather scares off potential owners.
Even the ballerina’s bedroom raises many questions.
“The apartment is well located: the Mikhailovsky Theater, the Russian Museum, and the building itself, in which it is located, is just a stone’s throw from it, it was designed by Karl Rossi, the famous St. Petersburg architect, the author of the General Staff on Palace Square and the Alexandrinsky Theater. And, of course, they are interested in such living space, – the St. Petersburg realtors comment on the situation. – But all potential buyers are confused by the interior: the palace style is now out of fashion, and not everyone is ready to live in the “sovereign’s chambers” according to the sketches that Anastasia approved for herself. If such an area were sold without finishing, the apartment would “leave” much faster. “
The ceilings were painted by masters from the Hermitage
Even a working fireplace does not save the situation – it is a rarity for modern St. Petersburg. Although the apartment definitely has its advantages: it is located on the third floor of the building and has as many as eleven windows! Six of them overlook Arts Square, five more – on Italian Street. And the ceilings, which buyers find “too pretentious and pompous”, were painted not by nameless half-educated masters, but by famous restorers from the Hermitage – this information is available to realtors.
But for some reason “museum luxury” inspires few people
By the way, here I recall an old scandal, which is also associated with this apartment: in 2004, designers who worked for the ballerina went to court with a statement that Volochkova owed them 76 thousand dollars. Allegedly, the ballerina did not want to pay for the work already done. The proceedings lasted three years and ended in an amicable agreement, according to which Volochkova still gave the money to the artists.
And, finally, the most interesting thing: Anastasia bought an apartment in the center of St. Petersburg in 2001, but no one lived in it all this time. Volochkova did not want to rent out housing, and the repairs, begun at the time of the ballerina’s happy romance with businessman Igor Vdovin, remained unclaimed. So for more than 10 years, elite housing stood, accumulating dust, locked with a key.
Arts Square, where the apartment for sale is located
Anastasia decided to sell the apartment due to financial difficulties: not so long ago she bought a chic 3-storey mansion in the Moscow region with an area of 645 sq. meters with a plot of 16 acres. The name cost $ 3 million. These are the expenses Volochkova wants to compensate.
But, alas, the ballerina is unlikely to be able to make money on the sale of a St. Petersburg apartment: after all, its current price – 89 million rubles, or $ 1,5 million (if you count at the most recent exchange rate), is still lower than the one at which it was bought. Realtors claim that during the deal in 2001, Anastasia paid a tidy sum for the apartments that turned out to be unnecessary – 120 million in Russian currency.
So you can still argue about dancing, but the apartment business is definitely not for Volochkova.