Spaso House - The Residence of U.S. Ambassadors

The Residence of U.S. Ambassadors

After a long period of not recognizing the Soviet Union, the United States finally established diplomatic relations with Moscow in 1933. The first American Ambassador to the Soviet Union, William C. Bullitt, came to Moscow and selected a building on Mokhovaya street as the new U.S. Chancery and the Vtorov House as his temporary residence. The Vtorov House appealed to Bullitt because it had large space for entertaining and an American-style heating system, installed by the Soviet Government in 1928. The new third secretary of the Embassy, George Kennan, negotiated a three-year lease for the property for $75,000. Bullitt did not ask for a longer lease, because he had a plan to build a new residence, similar to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, in the Sparrow Hills, but the Soviet government never granted the land for the new house, so Spaso House became the permanent Ambassador's residence.

Early in 1934, the Ambassador and the first American diplomatic staff moved into Spaso House, which, due to structural problems with the Mohovaya street building, at first served as both the residence and Embassy chancery. The U.S. government constructed a new ballroom for Spaso House in 1935 to provide more space for entertaining large groups. On July 4, 1934, Bullitt hosted the first Fourth of July reception at Spaso House, and also led a team of U.S. diplomats in a game of baseball against a team of Moscow-based American journalists.

Bullitt's parties at Spaso House became legendary. The Spaso House Christmas party of 1934, held in the Chandelier Room, featured three performing seals from the Moscow Zoo, who came into the room balancing a Christmas tree, a tray of glasses, and a bottle of champagne. When the performance ended, the seal's trainer, who had been drinking, passed out, and the seals galloped free throughout the house.