“I decided I wanted to design the apartment in the style of a senior bureaucrat of the early Stalin period,” said the owner, antiques dealer Sergei Bobovnikov, 47.  And so began a seriously bizarre renovation with undeniably spectacular results.   However, he clarified that it was a design decision, not a political statement.  “Stalinism is repulsive, like Fascism.”

The article, ‘Back in the (’30s) USSR’ on The New York Times website, comes with a slideshow of highly satisfying pictures.  With strong notes of empire and Art Deco, the apartment has a weirdly haphazard look about it, like our grandparents’ houses, with each aesthetic snuggled up to the last.  Definitely worth a look, though I don’t think anyone would want to live with most of this stuff. “Coming soon to Crate & Barrel: the Stalin rug. . . ”  I just don’t see it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/greathomesanddestinations/back-in-the-30s-ussr.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&

If you want to see the pictures (and you really should see the pictures) but don’t want to create a NYT login, the majority of them can be found here, along with a number of other beautiful, beautiful things.