The store building was part of the estate of Vasily Petrovich Burkov. To this day, the residential house and the annex of the estate have been preserved.
The store, along with storage facilities, was built in 1902 during the expansion and improvement of the estate, which belonged to Burkov – a petty bourgeois who later became a member of the city council and was also the owner of a brick factory and several printing houses.
Burkov’s store is a fine example of red-brick construction in the so-called «red brick» style. A typical early 20th-century commercial building known as a palatka (small shop), it was built front-facing along the street and distinguished by the intricate brick ornamentation of its main façade. The decoration consists of numerous horizontal bands, continuous patterned friezes with geometric designs, decorative window crowns, and a broad cornice topped with a solid ornamental parapet (a low wall encircling the roof).
The symmetrical layout of paired windows flanking a central entrance is accentuated by vertical pilaster divisions. Three wooden storage sheds (labazy), constructed from split logs, adjoin the solid rear façade of the building.
The store specialized in grain trading – selling grain and flour. Eastern ornamental motifs on the façade hint at the availability of goods like tea. Once tea became a common household product rather than a luxury, typically consumed from samovars, demand soared. As a result, many Tyumen merchants began trading in tea.
The owner, Vasily Petrovich Burkov, was born around 1851 and died in 1910. His main trade was in grain and flour, which he transported using small vessels. He supplied riverside fishing communities with essential goods. For a time, he even owned a small steamboat, which he named «Mishutka» after his eldest son.
Burkov’s business thrived and extended beyond Siberia, with trade links to merchants in Japan, China, and Central Asia. He was a respected honorary citizen of Tyumen – a title he wore with pride.
