Mogilovtsev Palace, popularly known as “Chocolate House” — historical and architectural monument in Kyiv, located on Shovkovichnaya Street, 17/2 (next to the famous Ixkul-Hildenband building, which has number 19). It got its popular name because of the brown color and the large rust that resembles a chocolate bar.
Now it houses a branch of the Kyiv National Art Gallery — Art Center “Chocolate House” and Children's Art Gallery.

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The house was built in 1901 according to the project of the chief architect of Kiev, academician of architecture Vladimir Nikolaev on the order of the famous industrialist, financier and philanthropist, merchant of the first guild Semen Mogilovtsev, who lived in it until his death on August 10, 1917, bequeathing the property to numerous nephews miners.

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The building with a total area of about 900 m² has two floors with a large basement and an attic above the annex. The ground floor houses rooms for the secretary, servants and various ancillary services. On the second floor there are several halls in different styles. In the basement there is a shaft for the elevator, but it was laid with bricks.

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The facades of the estate, overlooking the streets of Shovkovichna and Filip Orlik, are made in the style of the Italian Renaissance - Florentine palazzos. In the urban design of Kiev, the Chocolate House is almost the only example of this type of construction. The general system of construction of facades is distinguished by its monumentality and splendor. Large, with chipped surface russet cladding, window contours, protruding cornice, decorative decoration — all this is a stylization of the architectural forms of the Florentine Palazzo Pitti, erected in the first half of the 15th century. The appearance of the building has survived to this day almost in its original form.

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The façade is decorated with stucco over the archivolts of the windows, depicting rows of caduccas and lion heads with open mouths, joined together by garlands of flowers and leaves, decorated with ribbons and bows.

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In front of the entrance to the building, the facade is decorated with an installation in the form of a video camera, the boundaries of which in the form of a cone are made of concrete.

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An artificial sparrow is also installed on the house.

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At the heart of the planning decision of the building (namely the second “front” floor) is the anfilade system. The interiors of the rooms are made in different architectural styles and are distinguished by sophistication and richness: the hall in the Baroque style (white hall), Art Nouveau and Renaissance, halls in Russian, Moorish, Byzantine and French styles.

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The white hall is made in the style of French Baroque. The hall is the largest in the house (92 m²). This hall was solemn: it hosted receptions, musical evenings and balls. The walls and ceiling are decorated with exquisite baroque stucco molding. On the large wall in the middle of the hall there is a large Venetian mirror, which has been preserved since the beginning of the 20th century. The mirror is decorated with molded garlands and paired cupidons, rams, doves and bowls. The dove (symbol of purity) and the ram (symbol of the golden rune) are elements of the coat of arms of Mogilovtsev. In the white hall there was also a huge chandelier with gilding and cupidons.

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The Art Nouveau hall is notable for Ukrainian ethnic ornamental motifs: in the mural, semi-fantastic blue “modern” flowers coexist with red and blue poppies. On stained glass windows, cockerels (favorite flowers of modernists) border on Ukrainian periwinkle. Periwinkles and daffodils are depicted on a gilded frieze around the ceiling. On the ceiling there is a copy of the portrait of Sara Bernard by Alphonse Mucha, as well as a peacock and a butterfly, which are traditional for the Art Nouveau period, are depicted among the periwinkle.

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The Russian hall is made in the Novorussian style. Fragments of the painting of the walls of the Russian Hall have been preserved, which depict ornaments from the royal jubilee five-ruble, which was then in circulation. A key element of ceiling ornaments is a firebird.

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The Byzantine hall was a large front dining room. The hall is bordered by large garlands depicting a variety of fruits and berries, including apples and grapes.

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The small Moorish hall adjoins the Byzantine dining room and the white hall, its main decoration is plaster carved wall panels. The walls themselves, which are now painted blue,

previously had an ornament of five, six and ten-pointed stars — a small part of it, fortunately, has survived unpainted.

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The stairs in the mansion are made in the Empire style: white marble steps are decorated with cast iron railings. Two swans hover on the ceiling above the stairs.

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The furniture in the halls was made to a special order and corresponded to the general style of the hall: the elements of the ornament on the ceiling and walls were exactly repeated on the furniture.

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