While the former homes of Hollywood celebrities or rock music legends have long been hot offers on the international real estate market, the homegrown interest in residences of Soviet-era functionaries is a new phenomenon.
Although the late Yekaterina Furtseva, one of the key figures of Khrushchev-era politics, is not nearly as famous as leaders Yury Andropov or Boris Yeltsin -- whose apartments recently went on sale -- her name can still help immensely in the marketing of one of her former properties.
Furtseva's 170.5-square-meter apartment at 3 Romanov Pereulok is currently on the market for around $1,150,000, according to Domostroi-Prestizh, the property's exclusive broker.
Furtseva, who was from a small village near Tver and who would have turned 94 three weeks ago, was the only woman who made it to the Communist Party Central Committee Presidium. Today she is mostly remembered for her time served as Soviet culture minister, a post to which she was demoted in 1961 following a falling out with party bosses.
"A famous name can boost the price of an apartment by 20 percent to 30 percent," said Irina Ivanenko, the head of advertising and public relations at Domostroi-Prestizh.
"But a name can only add to the market value of the property if it is in good condition," she added. "In this specific case, the house has recently undergone a renovation and it is still considered to be in the elite sector."
"The previous residency of prominent Soviet figures is often used to raise the price of an apartment," agreed Igor Shubin, head of the urban property resale department at Soho Realty.
Furtseva's apartment, which has five rooms with two bathrooms, a living room upholstered in damask, and a fireplace, currently belongs to a "businessman," according to Domostroi-Prestizh.
The Romanov Pereulok house, located just a short walk from the Kremlin, has been one of Moscow's top addresses since it was built by architect Alexander Meisner in 1898.
Known as the "House of the Marshals," numerous plaques on the building's facade attest to its Soviet-era power broker residents Alexei Kosygin, Kliment Voroshilov, Ivan Konev, Mikhail Frunze and Semyon Budyonny. Sidney Reilly, a British agent on whom novelist Ian Fleming is reputed to have based his James Bond character, also occupied an apartment there.
According to Domostroi-Prestizh's Ivanenko, Furtseva moved to the legendary house on Romanov Pereulok, then Ulitsa Granovskogo, in 1960 and lived there until her death in 1974.
Domostroi-Prestizh was also behind last year's 1.5 million euro ($2 million) sale of World War II legend Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky's eight-room, 260-square-meter apartment, which is located in the same Romanov Pereulok house as Furtseva's apartment.
Purchasing apartments of Soviet-era officials, generals and celebrities has become quite popular for wealthy Russians in the last few years, even though the majority of such deals are usually kept secret both by the buyer and the seller.
A recent example is Yeltsin's 167-square-meter, five-room apartment in Yekaterinburg -- the city where the Russian Federation's first president served as the head of the local Communist Party committee before being summoned to Moscow in 1985 -- which was sold to a mystery bidder for an undisclosed sum in 2003.
In the most high-profile deal of its kind to date, Penny Lane Realty held an auction for KGB head and later General Secretary Andropov's four-room, 155-square-meter apartment in western Moscow last year. The apartment, which had a market value of roughly between $300,000 and $400,000, was sold for $1.5 million.
Other Moscow deals concluded recently include the sale of 1930s movie star Lyubov Orlova's apartment on Tverskaya Ulitsa and the sale of Brezhnev-era Moscow party boss Viktor Grishin's residence on Ulitsa Spiridonovka.
But Alexander Ilyukhin, managing partner of realtor Novoye Kachestvo, was skeptical that an apartment that had belonged to Furtseva would have the same allure for potential buyers as a pad that was once owned by Yeltsin or Orlova.
"If we ask the modern generation who Furtseva is, I think no more than half of those polled would remember her name and only a few would be able to say something about this person," he said.
Although the late Yekaterina Furtseva, one of the key figures of Khrushchev-era politics, is not nearly as famous as leaders Yury Andropov or Boris Yeltsin -- whose apartments recently went on sale -- her name can still help immensely in the marketing of one of her former properties.
Furtseva's 170.5-square-meter apartment at 3 Romanov Pereulok is currently on the market for around $1,150,000, according to Domostroi-Prestizh, the property's exclusive broker.
Furtseva, who was from a small village near Tver and who would have turned 94 three weeks ago, was the only woman who made it to the Communist Party Central Committee Presidium. Today she is mostly remembered for her time served as Soviet culture minister, a post to which she was demoted in 1961 following a falling out with party bosses.
"A famous name can boost the price of an apartment by 20 percent to 30 percent," said Irina Ivanenko, the head of advertising and public relations at Domostroi-Prestizh.
"But a name can only add to the market value of the property if it is in good condition," she added. "In this specific case, the house has recently undergone a renovation and it is still considered to be in the elite sector."
"The previous residency of prominent Soviet figures is often used to raise the price of an apartment," agreed Igor Shubin, head of the urban property resale department at Soho Realty.
Furtseva's apartment, which has five rooms with two bathrooms, a living room upholstered in damask, and a fireplace, currently belongs to a "businessman," according to Domostroi-Prestizh.
The Romanov Pereulok house, located just a short walk from the Kremlin, has been one of Moscow's top addresses since it was built by architect Alexander Meisner in 1898.
Known as the "House of the Marshals," numerous plaques on the building's facade attest to its Soviet-era power broker residents Alexei Kosygin, Kliment Voroshilov, Ivan Konev, Mikhail Frunze and Semyon Budyonny. Sidney Reilly, a British agent on whom novelist Ian Fleming is reputed to have based his James Bond character, also occupied an apartment there.
According to Domostroi-Prestizh's Ivanenko, Furtseva moved to the legendary house on Romanov Pereulok, then Ulitsa Granovskogo, in 1960 and lived there until her death in 1974.
Domostroi-Prestizh was also behind last year's 1.5 million euro ($2 million) sale of World War II legend Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky's eight-room, 260-square-meter apartment, which is located in the same Romanov Pereulok house as Furtseva's apartment.
Purchasing apartments of Soviet-era officials, generals and celebrities has become quite popular for wealthy Russians in the last few years, even though the majority of such deals are usually kept secret both by the buyer and the seller.
A recent example is Yeltsin's 167-square-meter, five-room apartment in Yekaterinburg -- the city where the Russian Federation's first president served as the head of the local Communist Party committee before being summoned to Moscow in 1985 -- which was sold to a mystery bidder for an undisclosed sum in 2003.
 Itar-Tass Yekaterina Furtseva in 1967 |  |
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Other Moscow deals concluded recently include the sale of 1930s movie star Lyubov Orlova's apartment on Tverskaya Ulitsa and the sale of Brezhnev-era Moscow party boss Viktor Grishin's residence on Ulitsa Spiridonovka.
But Alexander Ilyukhin, managing partner of realtor Novoye Kachestvo, was skeptical that an apartment that had belonged to Furtseva would have the same allure for potential buyers as a pad that was once owned by Yeltsin or Orlova.
"If we ask the modern generation who Furtseva is, I think no more than half of those polled would remember her name and only a few would be able to say something about this person," he said.
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