Located at: Tyumen, Chelyuskintsev St., 23 / Khokhryakova St., 17.
Date of construction: 2nd half of the 19th century.
Historical background:
The house was built approximately in the 1870-1880s by the Tyumen merchant of the 2nd guild Andrei Yakovlevich Maksimov, at the end of the 19th century it became the property of the Wardropper family, British subjects, famous Siberian industrialists and shipowners.
In the middle of the 19th century, the Wardropper family moved from Scotland to Russia to try their luck in business. In the last quarter of the century, this family became noticeable in the industrial circles of Western Siberia.
It was headed by Robert Wardropper, a native of Aberdeen, a British subject. He and his children Edward and James founded a shipyard in the village of Zhiryakovo, Tyumen district, which became one of three large enterprises of this profile in our region.
The plant produced goods worth 40 thousand rubles a year. It employed eighty people who produced «steamboat and other machines» and cast «cast iron and copper items».
Thanks to the efforts of the Wardroppers and other shipbuilders, the river fleet of Siberia completely replaced the oar and sail fleet with steamships, and Tyumen became the center of shipbuilding beyond the Urals and the main base of shipping on the Siberian rivers.
In Tyumen, the Wardroppers owned several houses, but according to some sources, they bought the former mansion of the merchant Maximov first. It is believed that almost all the English and Americans who passed through Siberia stayed there. For example, travelers A. Bram and O. Finsch, journalist J. Kennan, missionary F. Baedeker, etc.
James' daughter, Ann Wardropper (Anna Yakovlevna Pamfilova), was the owner of a dairy store and a butter factory. She exported butter to Pondon and Bavaria. And Tyumen cheese «Bakshteyn» was considered to be no less good than its European relative. According to local historian Viktor Efimovich Kopylov, Anna Pamfilova personally purchased equipment for the production of Swiss and Limburg cheese from her Scottish relatives.
The production company of "Great Britain subjects" lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. In the register of trading firms in Tyumen for 1910, there is still a mention of the partnership of the Wardropper brothers, engaged in «steamboat and other industrial production».
In January-March 1942, the 175th Rifle Division was formed in the building, which perished on the Southwestern Front, near Kharkov in May-June 1942.
Description:
A two-story brick building. The house is adjoined by a brick gate with an arched opening flanked by a three-part decorative design of recessed niches. The building represents a variant of the red brick style, in which peculiarly transformed echoes of classicism are noticeable.
