In 1869, Pavel von Derviz, a Privy Councilor, concessionaire and railway builder, purchased 10 hectares of land in Nice, on which he built the Valrose Estate with a neo-Gothic chateau and laid out a picturesque park. Money was no object: business was so well that he was even nicknamed the ‘Russian Monte Cristo’. And then there was the ‘izba’ hut. The owner of Valrose had it transported by sea from one of his Russian estates. Today, the Valrose Estate houses the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis.