The literary and memorial museum of the artist-caricaturist Pavel Shcherbov is settled down in his original house, one of the most intriguing constructions built in the Gatchina land near Saint Petersburg at the beginning of the 20th century.
Pavel Shcherbov Memorial Estate was opened for general public in 1992. The famous caricaturist Pavel Shcherbov lived with his family in this very house In the same house the artist died in 1938.
The estate became a sight of Gatchina and became famous long before it was turned into a museum. The extravagant house was up there with the vivid personality of its owner. The architect Stepan Krichinsky developed and implemented the project in the so-called "northern modernist style". The basic characteristic of the style is resorting to the national roots, where medieval European features of construction are interpreted in modern ways. The house reminded a medieval castle most of all.
Pavel Shcherbov's house was a true cultural Mecca of Gatchina in the 1820s-1830s. One of the best estates of St. Petersburg was frequented by the writer Alexander Kuprin, the great opera bass Fyodor Shalyapin, the composer Vasily Andreyev, and the artists Mikhail Nesterov and Konstantin Pervukhin.
The local history part of the museum exposition is dedicated to Gatchina of the 19th - early 20th centuries, its celebrities, architecture, and household culture of its inhabitants. The memorial section tells visitors about the artist Pavel Shcherbov and his famous guests.