With time, the grand duke frequently retreated to Crimea, where he enjoyed the last, carefree years of the Romanov dynasty along the Black Sea shores. In 1907 he purchased a small plot of land at Gaspra in the Crimea, the following year he commissioned the construction of Kichkine, from the Tartar word "tiny Jewel". The villa was designed in Moorish style and built with local whitewashed stone. Here the grand duke and his guest spent many pleasant evenings watching the sunset over the Black Sea, unaware that the sun was also setting over their privileged way of life.