Fort Ross Commander's House - Fort Ross, CA
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saopaulo1
N 38° 30.854 W 123° 14.640
10S E 478727 N 4262900
Fort Ross Commander's House, also known as the Rootchev House.
Waymark Code: WMJW7T
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 01/06/2014
Views: 1
"Of the seven buildings presently within the fort compound only one, the Rotchev House, is an original Russian-built structure. It is a National Historic Landmark. The Rotchev House is unique and nationally significant because it is one of only four surviving buildings built in the Russian-American colonial period, and the only surviving Russian-built structure outside of Alaska. It was built (or renovated) in 1836 on the site of the old Russian clerk’s quarters visible on the 1817 map of Fort Ross. The exterior of the Rotchev House was restored to its late-1830s appearance in a series of modifications between 1925 and 1974 (most recently after the 1971 fire which destroyed the Rotchev House’s original roof). Numerous rare examples of original Russian building techniques are visible. In 2011, a five-year preservation and furnishing project was completed.
The Rotchev House was constructed circa 1836 to serve as the home of the Russian-American Company’s last manager at Fort Ross, Alexander Rotchev, his wife Elena, and their three children, Olga, Elena and Konstantin. Alexander Rotchev was an intelligent, well-educated, and well-traveled man of the arts, and a poet. His wife, Princess Elena Pavlovna Gagarina, a descendant of the titled nobility, was also accomplished in the arts and sciences and conversant in several languages. Accounts indicate that the Rotchev House was considered a refined and properly furnished residence, given its location on the frontier. A French visitor remarked that the Rotchevs possessed a “choice library, a piano, and a score of Mozart.” The hospitality of the Rotchevs was highly regarded. They lived in their Fort Ross home until 1841." (
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