Saving Chekhov’s Yalta ‘White Dacha’ Home

Travel Blog  •  Jim Benning  •  11.20.08 | 11:00 AM ET

imagePhoto by henribergius via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

The unusual house where Anton Chekhov lived and wrote for several years was turned into a museum in 1921, but it’s now falling apart, and territorial issues aren’t helping matters.

Says the scholar who has launched the Yalta Chekhov Campaign: “[The dacha] is in a strange position. The Russian government didn’t want to fund the restoration because the house is in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian government didn’t want to pay to promote a Russian author.”

Among the actors supporting the effort: Kenneth Branagh and Ralph Fiennes. Classy gents.