Spaso House, Neoclassical mansion in Arbat District, Russia

Spaso House is a three-storey Neoclassical Revival mansion at No. 10 Spasopeskovskaya Square, built in 1913–1914 by architects Vladimir Adamovich and Vladimir Mayat for textile industrialist Nikolay Vtorov. Its pale yellow facade has a central rounded portico with six white columns, a balcony with curved metal railing, symmetrical wings with matching columns and round medallions, and white reliefs in a curved recess above the portico. Inside, a high-ceilinged hall has four cylindrical columns with gilded capitals, a light blue frieze with white plaster garlands, and a multi-tiered crystal and gold chandelier.

Nikolay Vtorov, owner of Imperial Russia's largest textile firm, bought the lot from Princess Lobanova-Rostovaya and had architects Vladimir Adamovich and Vladimir Mayat build the mansion from April 1913; the family moved in shortly before World War I in August 1914. After 1917 Vtorov died mysteriously, his family fled, and the house was expropriated, later housing diplomats including Georgi Chicherin. In 1933 George Kennan negotiated a three-year lease and it became the U.S. ambassador's residence.

The house's name comes from Spasopeskovskaya Square, meaning "Saviour on the Sands" for the area's sandy soil. Its Chandelier Room hosted Ambassador Bullitt's 1934 Christmas party, where three Moscow Zoo seals balanced a Christmas tree, glasses and champagne, then escaped through the house. The 1935 Spring Festival filled the rooms with birch trees, an aviary of pheasants and zebra finches, and a baby bear.

The mansion stands at No. 10 Spasopeskovskaya Square, a short walk from the Old Arbat pedestrian street and the Smolenskaya metro stations. It is a working ambassador's residence, so the interior is closed to the public; the yellow facade, six-column portico and balustrade are seen from the square outside.

The 1935 Spring Festival held here by Ambassador William C. Bullitt filled the Chandelier Room with ten young birch trees, a lawn of chicory grown on wet felt, an aviary of pheasants, parakeets and a hundred zebra finches, plus mountain goats, white roosters and a baby bear. Four hundred guests attended, among them Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.