dacha

A traditional Russian dacha.

DOTCH´-uh

The term dacha, which originally meant ‘land grant’ in Russian, now refers to a Russian country house, especially one used as a second home during the summer.

Dachas range in style from simple wooden structures to elegant mansions made of brick and stone.

Today’s Russian nouveaux riches are fond of dachas with swimming pools, tennis courts, and stables for race horses.

People who spend time on dachas are known as dachniks.

I just finished a novel in which a nasty Russian oligarch imprisons his wife in their dacha for five years.