Abstract
<jats:p>The article examines the real estate project of 1877-1880 of the paleontologist Vladimir Onufrievich and mathematician Sofya Vasilievna Kovalevsky, a couple of scientists, using previously unnoticed by historicans archival data, its impact on their scientific work, and its representation in literature and cinema, primarily in two Soviet feature films about Sofya Kovalevskaya of 1956 and 1985. The Kovalevsky couple began building tenement houses, including those with bathhouses, on Basil Island. Their plans did not materialize, and the income from the bathhouses turned out to be a quarter less than expected. By 1880, the Kovalevsky family was facing bankruptcy. F. V. Korvin-Krukovsky became the sole owner of the house and bathhouses on 9th Line of Basil Island. The project had a negative impact on the reputation and scientific work of V. O. Kovalevsky, while S. V. Kovalevskaya returned to her studies in mathematics by the beginning of 1880.</jats:p>