The University of Côte d’Azur and the Heritage Foundation are launching a fundraising campaign to restore the isba on the Valrose estate, a 19th-century wooden structure currently threatened. Selected by the 2025 Heritage Lottery, the house will receive national support, but additional funding is needed.
Located in the park of the Valrose estate between 1871 and 1881, the isba is the work of Baron Paul Von Derwies, a Russian businessman who settled in Nice in the 19th century. A passionate architecture enthusiast and patron, he dismantled a traditional house built on one of his lands near Kiev to have it transported by train to Nice. The structure, made of interlocking fir logs, was then reassembled on the estate, near the castle he had just built.
Baron Von Derwies transformed the site into a reception area. His guests discovered a fragment of Slavic culture in the heart of the Riviera, amid gardens designed in the romantic spirit of the era. This isba, both rustic and refined, quickly became an architectural curiosity. It bears witness to the cosmopolitan nature of Nice society during the Second Empire, when the Côte d’Azur attracted nobility and artists from all over Europe.
Classified as a historic monument in 1991, the isba has never undergone a complete restoration. Exposed to the elements, it has gradually lost its strength. The wood has weakened, and the carved elements have suffered from time. Visits are now suspended for safety reasons.
According to a recent assessment, “a thorough diagnosis reveals significant deterioration of the wooden structure, threatening its structural integrity. Without rapid restoration, this historic monument risks suffering irreversible damage and potentially a total loss.”
A collective project to save the isba
The University of Côte d’Azur, owner of the estate, has decided to launch a funding campaign in partnership with the Heritage Foundation. The aim is to raise 15,000 euros to support a project estimated at 740,400 euros. The project also benefits from significant support thanks to its selection by the Bern Mission and the 2025 Heritage Lottery, which provide assistance to endangered sites throughout France.
“The Heritage Foundation was absolutely determined to support the isba because it is already an exceptional heritage and above all, it is in great danger. It was truly essential to intervene, especially as securing the funding is challenging,” emphasizes Jacques Joncour, departmental delegate of the Heritage Foundation.
Franck Blanc, Director of Sustainable Development of the university sites, confirms the urgency: “there is work to be done. It is now the structure that is affected, its foundations. There is urgency.”
The work, scheduled to begin at the end of 2025, is expected to last about a year. It will include consolidating the framework, restoring the original logs, and restoring lost decorative elements, such as balustrades and ridge galleries. Clémence de Sorbier, architect of the Buildings of France, reminds: “the logs that form the building’s structure come from the baron’s estate in his country. They were dismantled piece by piece and numbered to be reassembled here in Nice.”
Beyond saving the building, the renovation is part of a broader project to enhance the Valrose estate. The university aims to promote its heritage to students, residents, schools, businesses, and tourists. The renovated isba is expected to house, in the long term, a space for international students.
“We will be able to start the initial emergency works quite quickly. Then, the isba will come back to life, and we will be able to reopen it to university life focused on hosting and internationalization,” adds Franck Blanc.
Preserve and transmit
This project follows several recent restorations on the estate: the lake, bridges, and kiosk were rehabilitated in 2024 thanks to public and private funds. The opening of the park to the public allowed many locals to rediscover this complex classified within the World Heritage perimeter of UNESCO.
For Dominique Larédo, historian at the university, “this isba was conceived in Ukraine, then dismantled and reassembled in Nice.” A phrase that sums up the remarkable journey of this peasant house, which has over time become a symbol of Nice’s heritage.
The call for donations is open to everyone, individuals or companies, via the Heritage Foundation’s website.
The contributions will help complete the funding and ensure the preservation of a rare testimony of cultural exchanges between France and Russia in the 19th century.
