Designer Restores Family House in Arkhangelsk Village
Yulia invests money earned by her jewelry brand into the house
Designer and founder of the jewelry brand berega Yulia Yeremeyeva has bought a house in the village of Zaostrovye in the Arkhangelsk Region (northwestern Russia). Her parents are from here, her grandmothers live here, and the extended family visits the village several times a year. A lengthy reconstruction process lies ahead, with specialists from Moscow also brought in. Once the house is ready, it will house a workshop for the berega brand, which Yulia is developing together with her sister Olga.
The family bought the house in 2023
A family team
Yulia and Olga work together on the berega brand
Yulia was born in Moscow but has known Zaostrovye, in the Vinogradovsky District (Arkhangelsk Region), since childhood: she spent her summer holidays here. Yulia is now 32; she has moved to Arkhangelsk and from April to November stays in the village, restoring the house she bought.
«As children, my sister and I hung out here for a quarter of the year. Naturally, summers in the village shaped our personalities,» Yulia says as we have lunch in her grandmother«s house. «We still come here and keep hanging out. Now there»s a feeling that we can do something useful and interesting here. We«ve got the strength now, so we keep going. Luckily, the whole family supports us.»
Yulia Skornyakova was born in Zaostrovye
Yulia«s mother, Yulia Skornyakova, helped buy the house. She is from Zaostrovye, went to school here, then graduated from the Arkhangelsk Cooperative Technical College, got married and moved to Moscow with her husband Dmitry.
The house has already been given its name — «Berega»
«At some point we decided we needed to come back,» the woman says. «Not just to potter about in the vegetable garden, but to do something interesting.»
The ruins of the house where Dmitry Skornyakov«s grandfather was born
The family decided to buy a house in order to create a workshop and a space for people who share their interests — folk art, costume and the traditions of the Pomor North (a Russian northern coastal culture). The berega brand is inspired by the customs and culture of the peoples of the Russian North. The house was given the same name — «Berega» (Shores).
«This house isn«t ours, it»s simply a house that has survived relatively well,» Yulia Skornyakova says. «A typical house of the Dvinovazhye area, a pjatistenok (a five-walled log house), two stories, with a large utility section. Two living rooms downstairs, two upstairs, and one more on the side.»
The «Berega» house belonged to one of the local families. Next to it stands another, heavily dilapidated house. Dmitry Skornyakov«s grandfather, Yulia»s husband, was born there. So the location was not chosen by chance.
Yulia talks about her family in the «Berega» house
«One person can«t keep up a farmstead alone, so we have a family team that has thrown itself into it,» Yulia Skornyakova says. «We bought it in 2023; we»ve been working on the house for three years.»
In the village, the team comes in «raids».
«My husband and I come three times a year: for the May holidays, in summer for Village Day, and in October,» Yulia Skornyakova says. «That«s our physical presence. In essence, we work on this project every day. I»m the one who does the local history work and studies our family tree.»
Three years ago the woman began studying the history of the Skornyakov family. She collects materials in archives, looks for photographs, and carefully keeps the materials in a separate folder.
«We dug back to 1667, the eleventh generation,» Yulia shares with pride.
«Have you even seen the house? Why do you need it?»
The idea of having a place to work in the village came to Yulia Yeremeyeva quite a long time ago. Alongside the brand, she is involved in creating folk costume at the «Russkie Nachala» (Russian Beginnings) studio in Moscow.
The toilet was built in time for Village Day
«I started studying costume in 2015. In the local area the sensations are completely different. It«s one thing when girls come to our Moscow workshop to sew. It»s quite another to travel and see what, for example, Kargopol (a town in Arkhangelsk Region), where the costume comes from, is like.»
The village, with its open spaces, its sense of the horizon, the sand spits on the Northern Dvina River, the slow, severe water, also inspired Yulia to create her jewelry brand. The idea of a workshop in such a place was born on its own.
Architect-restorer Nikolai Smirnov has worked on projects in the North for many years
«The only thing was that there was absolutely no understanding of what this was, where it was, how it would work? Come for the summer to work, or simply leave Moscow?»
The ruin will become an art object
It was Yulia Skornyakova, the young woman«s mother, who came up with the idea of buying a house in Zaostrovye.
«Mum comes back after a winter holiday in the village and says: «Yulia, let»s buy a house.« I said: »Blimey, let«s do it, of course.» What else could I say? I understand that before that these were my fantasies that never turned into action. But there was preparation in terms of the brand and the costumes. Everything developed gradually. This growing need collided with my mother«s wish.»
Yulia«s father also supported her mother; he became interested in the history of the neighboring house where his grandfather was born.
«This little patch of land in a beautiful spot, with a view of the other side of the river. We decided we needed that patch of land. After that the project itself began to take shape.»
Meetings are already held in the house
At first, as Yulia recalls, many people didn«t understand the idea of buying two houses unfit for living.
«Even the people selling us the house asked: «Have you even seen the house? Why do you need it?» There was a constant dialogue with those we dealt with over the purchase. But we already had a clear feeling that we needed it. I understood why, and Mum wanted to make it happen.»
The idea of turning the house into a museum or a hotel, as Yulia says, had already occurred to local residents, but no one was ready to take it on.
«Because the purchase itself is a complicated matter. To buy from people who don«t have a single document for the house is quite hard. We went through that path thanks to Mum»s persistence.»
From a house to a workshop, from ruins to an art object
Restoring such a house is not only slow but also expensive. It also requires people who understand how to work with wood and build with a knowledge of tradition. In an ideal scenario, as Yulia imagines it, six million rubles ($67,400 at current rates) and five professional carpenters are needed. People are a separate problem.
«Carpenters are a separate type of construction worker, people who know how to work with wood, with an axe. That skill has been lost in the area. There are builders, there are maintenance crews that might be able to put up a little dacha. But that«s a very low level of construction, unsuitable for such a serious behemoth as ours.»
Along with carpenters, an architect-restorer with the same skills is needed, someone who can lead the crew.
«With money and professional people, we could do it, I think, in two to three years,» Yulia estimates. «The complete rebuilding of the house is one season; it has to be done quickly. Plus a year for utilities, water, so that the workshop can be used both in winter and summer.»
At the same time, Yulia isn«t losing hope.
«We understand that these people exist somewhere. They need to be found and offered clear work. Right now we«re giving ourselves time to prepare. For now we need to make a place nearby where we can spend the night. This year we got a toilet. We need to build a summer kitchen, move the banya (Russian sauna), clean the well — to create a minimal set of village living facilities. When that happens, there will be a base to live in.»
Right now the team is preparing and buying materials.
«For two years we«ve been buying logs, around 100,000 rubles ($1,100) each time. Boards are even more expensive — 120,000–150,000 rubles ($1,300–1,700) each season. We can still operate with sums like that.»
Not many people are working on the house yet, but each of them plays an important role.
«I«m the main communicator, pulling people into this whole thing,» Yulia says. «Mum handles administrative and household tasks. The third person is architect-restorer Nikolai Smirnov. He»s the only one who has a picture of what should be happening here. Also on the team is Alexander Yermolayev — an architect-designer from the «Theater of Architectural Form» studio in Moscow.»
Yulia calls Alexander an «architect-psychologist».
«He helped me a great deal in the early stages. He talked to me, asked me questions. Sasha helped formulate what we want here and what we«re ready for. It was Sasha»s idea to preserve the ruin.»
The ruin is the house where Pyotr Skornyakov, the grandfather of Yulia«s father, was born.
«The house is completely unfit for living, but thanks to Sasha we see in it an art object on the theme of the memory of a place. It«s vanishing architecture, in the process of disappearing. We»re interested in processing it, turning it into a kind of platform that captures that process.»
Technically, technologically and financially, Yulia says, this will be quite difficult.
«We«ve chosen the path of self-restoration; the process stretches out over time. Nevertheless, in the spring I gave a presentation on what has been done over three years. And when you put the whole picture together, you think: »Well, I think it«s fine».»
Yulia invests money received from her berega brand into the house. Another possibility for finding funding is a grant. Yulia and the team are also considering that, but haven«t decided yet.
«In the scheme I«ve worked out — a brand that makes money — there»s more potential than in a grant,» the young woman believes. «It«s more stable. I have a business that covers our needs.»
Even at the restoration stage the house is alive. Meetings of like-minded people involved in the traditions of the Pomor North are already held here. Even more events are planned.
«Under a grant from «Russkie Nachala», seminars and master classes are planned for next year already at the «Berega» house. By then we«ll have materials and costumes that can be shared. A kitchen will appear; in the summer I»d very much like to hold residencies and bring together people and artists.»
Another goal is to hold drawing lessons with children.
«Children are an important aspect. There are only about eight of them left here; it«s worth doing something for them. Drawing is a basic skill that will come in handy no matter what a person does. To go and do plein-air painting sessions around the »Berega« house and hang our drawings on its walls. That would be great.»
We visited Zaostrovye for its 555th anniversary. Read about what this village lives on, a place that has united generations and cities.
See in a large photo report how the show and the anniversary of Zaostrovye went.
Young people returning to villages are no longer a rarity. A video of a village birthday party in the Arkhangelsk Region has already gained more than a million views. It was filmed by Daniil Cheremny. The young man celebrated his 25th birthday in Yedoma, Pinezhsky District, inviting all his neighbors to the party. 29.RU talked to Daniil about village life, local residents and young people«s desire to live further away from the city.
