The house was built in the late 1920s for the banker Dimitar Ivanov and his wife Nadezhda Stankovic.
Inside, the focus is on the red marble fireplace in the entrance hall.
There is a stage for musicians and crystal glasses at the inner doors.
Several bedrooms, beautiful terraces, a spacious study, and service spaces.
None of the furniture remains, but it is known that Sofia’s high-ranking citizens preferred furniture from Central and Western Europe during that period.
The exterior features a large front garden facing the street, separated from the sidewalk by a beautiful wrought-iron gate.
A triple staircase leads to the entrance of the house, but it is always impressive to note that there are special portals for carriages and carts on both sides of the courtyard.
Even today, I imagine a carriage with the invited family members entering the house’s courtyard through one portal, while the hooves and carriage remain in the space behind the house, specially adapted, waiting for the end of the reception, then exiting again through the other courtyard portal.
The Ivanov banker’s family lived happily in the house, at least until 1944.
After the war, the property was nationalized and initially housed the Romanian embassy.
Later, over the years, the house became a commercial representation of the USSR in Bulgaria, as well as the headquarters of the administration of various communist structures of dubious purpose.
In the 1990s, the house was returned to the heirs of the original owner, banker Dimitar Ivanov.
Since 2004, the property has belonged to Lukoil’s director, Valentin Zlatev, who has so far shown no connection to this cultural heritage.
The beautiful house, once in ruins for decades, is sadly neglected today.