In the mid-19th century, Chernoglazovskaya Street — today known as Marshal Bazhanov Street — was considered the outskirts of Kharkiv. Although officially incorporated into the city under the 1822 development plan, it grew and developed at a slow pace, largely because local landowners possessed vast plots. One such property remained in the hands of the Platonov family for more than half a century, featuring a modest stone house, wooden outbuildings, and a sprawling garden. The owners themselves, however, lived in another home on Skrypnitskaya Street.
The construction boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries initially passed Chernoglazovskaya by. But as demand for rental housing surged, large estate owners began selling portions of their land for development. By 1912, on the even-numbered side of the street, State Councillor Roman Lvovich Mirotvortsev and Nadezhda Frantsevna Lezel, daughter of a provincial secretary, sold part of their property to pharmacist Lazar Ovshievich Rosenfeld.
It is often — and mistakenly — believed that engineer Mikhail Reutenberg was the architect of these buildings. In fact, the original design was created in 1912 by builder-technician Nikolai Zakharovich Kolodyazhny, son of a military engineer. Together, father and son had designed and built dozens of structures in Kharkiv, though today few remember their names.
Kolodyazhny’s project envisioned two four-storey buildings with basements. The plans were completed in August 1912 and approved a month later. Rosenfeld, deciding not to start construction in the autumn, spent the winter revising the layout, changing the building volumes and shifting them closer to the street. This required the addition of steps at the entrance.
At the client’s request, the service entrances from the apartments were not accessed by carriageways but by long, narrow passages. The plans were reworked, the steps removed, the passages redesigned with fire-resistant materials, and their appearance improved. All of this delayed the start of work, and final approval came only in March 1913.
By then, Rosenfeld and Kolodyazhny’s relationship had soured, aggravated by the involvement of Rosenfeld’s agent, Albert Golvich. Disagreements over money and constant criticism led Kolodyazhny to withdraw from supervising the construction. This was when engineer Mikhail Reutenberg entered the picture. On May 10, 1913, he signed a contract with Rosenfeld to oversee the works and formally assumed responsibility before the City Technical Department.
In a curious twist, Rosenfeld was unable to bear the financial strain of the project and sold the buildings to a certain Lasso — yet remained in one of the apartments as a tenant. Reutenberg, too, rented an apartment here.
https://www.otkudarodom.ua/ru/chernoglazovskaya-nono-6-i-8-doma-rozenfelda
