Posted on 03/22/2011 10:30:04 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Kremlin holiday retreat that was a favourite of Boris Yeltsin, the late Russian president, complete with tennis court, sauna and crystal chandeliers is to be auctioned off for more than £6 million after falling into a state of disrepair.
In what is being billed as a unique opportunity to snap up a piece of modern Russian history, Yeltsin's dacha or country estate in northwest Russia is to go on the block next month with a recommended starting price of £6.25 million.
Included in the sale are the indoor tennis court Yeltsin used to play on, the sauna he used to sweat in, and the swimming pool he once did laps in.
The Kremlin says it expects the property, at the time the Russian presidential equivalent of Chequers in Britain, to sell for well over the initial asking price.
However the new owner will not be entitled to the 124 acres of land on which the lakeside retreat sits, and will have to buy it separately, pushing the price up further.
The estate includes a three-storey hotel, a two-storey house and four cottages. The retreat, which was originally built in the 1930s as a holiday destination for senior Communist party officials, has its own pier jutting into a nearby lake. Other mod cons include a billiard room, silk wallpaper, marble floors, Italian crystal chandeliers and extensive under floor heating, an important detail in a part of the world where temperatures plunge well below zero in winter.
The Kremlin appears eager to rid itself of the estate as a job lot. The new owner will also get the furniture, a small but distinguished art collection, and a "communications room" used to ensure the Russian president was always in touch with the outside world.
The estate, called Shuiskaya Chupa, is
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
That would be cool. I wonder if it has a working "red phone".
Does anyone remember the drunk, naked pizza run that Boris tried to make from the WH during the Clinton years? Priceless.
I assume that's what the pool was used for.
Ah, I see.
Who says white men ain’t got no soul?
“The retreat, which was originally built in the 1930s as a holiday destination for senior Communist party officials, has its own pier jutting into a nearby lake.”
Well, it’s good to know senior Communist party officials were living well when 100’s of thousands were starving or being murdered.
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