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Prechistenka 13

Built in 1912 by G. A. Gelrikh and N. G. Lazarev, this house may have served as a secondary model for the "Evil Apartment" at Sadovaya 302bis. It was a luxurious residence with spacious flats and a huge marble front staircase.

A distant relative of the famous jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé, A. P. Fabergé, lived at Prechistenka 13. The building was nationalized after the Revolution, and the flats turned into communal apartments. Some of Bulgakov's friends later resided here, and Bulgakov was a regular visitor to the house soon after moving to Moscow. The chandelier and the staircase in the novel may be modeled on those found here.

The Fabergé family left in a hurry, and there were persistent rumors that they had hidden jewels in the building. The rumors were confirmed in 1970 when workers remodeling an apartment found a cache of silverware hidden in a wall! Here is a similar story about the house of Agathon Faberge in St. Petersburg.