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Dacha: The Soviet Country Cottage
An astonishing photographic record of a form of wooden architecture rapidly vanishing from the post-Soviet landscape A dacha is a country house, made of wood, used by Soviet citizens to escape the rigors of the city for a rural idyll. Widespread in the countries of the former USSR, this important cultural and architectural form has been largely ignored academically. In Dacha, Fyodor Savintsev documents this particularly Russian phenomenon. His photographs constitute a unique record of a rapidly vanishing fairy-tale wooden world.
The word "dacha" has been used to describe constructions ranging from grand imperial villas to small sheds. Originally bestowed by the Tsar to reward courtiers, this custom continued following the revolution, with Soviet cooperatives building dachas for their members. Supposedly for the benefit of laborers, in reality they were destined for those favored by the State, including famous writers, architects and artists from Pasternak to Prokofiev. The fall of the Soviet Union accelerated their use, as economic uncertainty forced city dwellers toward self-sufficiency.
The dacha tradition has survived revolution, war and the collapse of Communism, becoming an integral part of life in the process. Using contemporary photographs to showcase these uniquely individual buildings for the first time, alongside an introduction explaining their historical and cultural context, Dacha is the only publication of its kind.
The word "dacha" has been used to describe constructions ranging from grand imperial villas to small sheds. Originally bestowed by the Tsar to reward courtiers, this custom continued following the revolution, with Soviet cooperatives building dachas for their members. Supposedly for the benefit of laborers, in reality they were destined for those favored by the State, including famous writers, architects and artists from Pasternak to Prokofiev. The fall of the Soviet Union accelerated their use, as economic uncertainty forced city dwellers toward self-sufficiency.
The dacha tradition has survived revolution, war and the collapse of Communism, becoming an integral part of life in the process. Using contemporary photographs to showcase these uniquely individual buildings for the first time, alongside an introduction explaining their historical and cultural context, Dacha is the only publication of its kind.
238 pages, Hardcover
Published September 19, 2023
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August 31, 2024Because I am a Boris Pasternak super fan, I’ve always been drawn to the idea of dachas. But it’s not just the Russian romanticism. It’s that any system or symbol of leisure and the good life says a lot not only about rest and relaxation, but also reflects something about work and purpose, which whisked together says something about what life is for.
Knamean?!
And the at would be good enough for one book of mostly photos. But on top of that, these actual dachas - not just the ones on Russian television, novels, or memories - are falling apart. Rotten wood, brambles reaching to the second story. What is so nice about this book is that the perspective does not, to me, appear to be relishing in the grandeur or tragedy of loss like pictures of Detroit. It’s much cozier than that. It’s a little more like, well, how to say this. It’s more like one distinctive opportunity to begin to see how much we have already. Instead of focusing so, so much on what we are liable to lose.
Cuz you see I have come to think that way more than buying an electric vehicle (if you can though, sure! Do it, what the hell)* or taking this or that “greener consumer option” the real struggle for us now in 2024, during a genocide, with this disturbingly dull election looming, I think a better route than buying The Right Thing is to change how we think and see. To relax the crazy grip that status and struggle have had on us. Debt! Achievement! Likes! Leveraging advantages! And instead to rekindle the joy of…My working term for this is “the joy of hopelessness” but uh, I know that’ll be a tough sell. I guess “simple pleasures” will do for now but that is way cutesier, I mean it practically has scalloped edges, than what I mean. I mean something more like what do Bedouins [insert culturally appropriate swap here] think of a life well lived? Imagine the pleasure of actually loving your life.
*bearing in mind I work in the renewable energy business so I am both more jaded/more informed about that stuff than I was before
Knamean?!
And the at would be good enough for one book of mostly photos. But on top of that, these actual dachas - not just the ones on Russian television, novels, or memories - are falling apart. Rotten wood, brambles reaching to the second story. What is so nice about this book is that the perspective does not, to me, appear to be relishing in the grandeur or tragedy of loss like pictures of Detroit. It’s much cozier than that. It’s a little more like, well, how to say this. It’s more like one distinctive opportunity to begin to see how much we have already. Instead of focusing so, so much on what we are liable to lose.
Cuz you see I have come to think that way more than buying an electric vehicle (if you can though, sure! Do it, what the hell)* or taking this or that “greener consumer option” the real struggle for us now in 2024, during a genocide, with this disturbingly dull election looming, I think a better route than buying The Right Thing is to change how we think and see. To relax the crazy grip that status and struggle have had on us. Debt! Achievement! Likes! Leveraging advantages! And instead to rekindle the joy of…My working term for this is “the joy of hopelessness” but uh, I know that’ll be a tough sell. I guess “simple pleasures” will do for now but that is way cutesier, I mean it practically has scalloped edges, than what I mean. I mean something more like what do Bedouins [insert culturally appropriate swap here] think of a life well lived? Imagine the pleasure of actually loving your life.
*bearing in mind I work in the renewable energy business so I am both more jaded/more informed about that stuff than I was before
November 20, 2024
These little cottages are exactly the type I hope I stumble upon if I ever get lost in a forest.
Fantastic photography and great information.
Fantastic photography and great information.
December 29, 2023
Why I read it: I've loved the concept of the dacha from the moment I first heard of it, and when I saw this book on a table at a bookstore V and I went to today for our last book haul of the year, I knew I had to have it.
Thoughts: Love it. The first 30 or so pages are an essay on the dacha and its role in Russian culture and society from conception to the modern day.
Of course, the essay is interesting. The topic of nostalgia is more or less in my wheelhouse, and there's few things more nostalgic than the dacha, the summer home of youth and productivity and leisure and connection to nature. I also like that it includes literary references, though I would be surprised if it didn't, considering the ubiquity of the dacha.
The rest of the book is all photographs, which is why I picked it up. I'm not Russian, but much of the atmosphere of the photos is intimately familiar to me from summers (and winters) spent at my grandparents' place in the deep countryside. The houses themselves are unfamiliar; the village I know was a proper village, not a collection of summer residences. But there are photos of interiors that may well be my grandmother's "cool room" (i.e. the room the freezer box was in, the room with all the old furniture, the room where she stored all the pickle jars, the room that always had forgotten, long-dried flower bouquets in dusty vases, the room with boxes full of weird old paranormal magazines my grandad collected). There are photos of plain but beautiful interiors, with wallpaper or painted doors that remind me of my grandmother's neighbours' houses, with pine panelling and all doors painted robin egg blue.
In short, there's a lot to catch the eye and the memory and, more importantly, the imagination. For me, this is a great buy. I'm going to mark it as read even though I'm still making my way through the photos. I've started doing quick sketches based on some of the photos, so I'll probably be flipping back and forth through the book for a long while yet.
I would, however, say that I'd also like to read fiction that revolves around or is set at dachas, so I would've really loved it if there was a reading list, or some sort of index at the end of the book. Alas.
Thoughts: Love it. The first 30 or so pages are an essay on the dacha and its role in Russian culture and society from conception to the modern day.
Of course, the essay is interesting. The topic of nostalgia is more or less in my wheelhouse, and there's few things more nostalgic than the dacha, the summer home of youth and productivity and leisure and connection to nature. I also like that it includes literary references, though I would be surprised if it didn't, considering the ubiquity of the dacha.
The rest of the book is all photographs, which is why I picked it up. I'm not Russian, but much of the atmosphere of the photos is intimately familiar to me from summers (and winters) spent at my grandparents' place in the deep countryside. The houses themselves are unfamiliar; the village I know was a proper village, not a collection of summer residences. But there are photos of interiors that may well be my grandmother's "cool room" (i.e. the room the freezer box was in, the room with all the old furniture, the room where she stored all the pickle jars, the room that always had forgotten, long-dried flower bouquets in dusty vases, the room with boxes full of weird old paranormal magazines my grandad collected). There are photos of plain but beautiful interiors, with wallpaper or painted doors that remind me of my grandmother's neighbours' houses, with pine panelling and all doors painted robin egg blue.
In short, there's a lot to catch the eye and the memory and, more importantly, the imagination. For me, this is a great buy. I'm going to mark it as read even though I'm still making my way through the photos. I've started doing quick sketches based on some of the photos, so I'll probably be flipping back and forth through the book for a long while yet.
I would, however, say that I'd also like to read fiction that revolves around or is set at dachas, so I would've really loved it if there was a reading list, or some sort of index at the end of the book. Alas.
August 1, 2025
I'd never heard of dacha before spotting this title in the Fuel catalog, so well done Fuel in introducing me to another facet of Russian culture. The 20ish page introduction was informative, but also not quite informative enough. As in, no I didn't want to read more at that point, but I still don't know that I could ever identify these in the wild (I need a few more details). However, all the photos were fantastically charming and included such variety! So much character! I love that the tradition survived revolution and communism but I wonder if they'll survive the age of plastic.
Finally, my eyebrows almost flew off the top of my head when the photographer mentioned in the afterword that houses can survive for centuries if taken care of (with the corollary that dacha need upkeep to thrive much longer than 100 or so years). They do?? LOL, such a different perspective compared to where I'm from! The building I live was built just over 100 years ago and that's considered pretty old in my part of the country. I love getting such different perspectives!
Finally, my eyebrows almost flew off the top of my head when the photographer mentioned in the afterword that houses can survive for centuries if taken care of (with the corollary that dacha need upkeep to thrive much longer than 100 or so years). They do?? LOL, such a different perspective compared to where I'm from! The building I live was built just over 100 years ago and that's considered pretty old in my part of the country. I love getting such different perspectives!
April 29, 2024
Such lovely lonely pictures reminding one sometimes of the cottages in Newport, sometimes of cottages expected for summer familying
June 6, 2024
Really nice photos of architectural treasures, highly recommend.
January 22, 2025
oh to live in a little wooden cottage covered in ivy with huge bright windows and lace curtains and houseplants and embroidered bunny pillows........
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