Parisian villa of Russian singer Feodor Chaliapin is offered at giveaway price

Parisian villa of Russian singer Feodor Chaliapin is offered at giveaway price

Two-storey house in the Italian style, which belonged to Russian opera singer of late XIX - early XX century Feodor Chaliapin, was put up for sale, according to ee24.com citing Moskovsky Komsomolets. Villa called La Chanson ( franch: "song") is located near Paris, in village of Janvry.

Chaliapin, who immigrated from Soviet Russia in the beginning of 1920s, stayed in his French villa only a few times, because he bought a house in France just a year before his death. In February 1938, Mr Chaliapin was writing to his daughter Irina: "It is 40 kilometers from Paris - a heavenly place." Two months later, in April, the singer died of leukemia.

Villa near Paris was found for Chaliapin by Russian merchant Leonid Golovanov. In 1939, when the widow of singer moved to the U.S., it was Golovanov who got this estate. He opened there a restaurant, which was visited by such celebrities as ballerina Tamara Toumanova, director Jean Cocteau, fashion designer Coco Chanel and actor Gerard Philippe.

After the death of Golovanov, the estate was passed to his son Igor, whose wife's relatives put it on sale. The auction will be held on 8 January 2014. Owners are experiencing financial troubles and want to sell the villa fast, so that the starting price is € 750,000, which is several times less than the market value.