The caption identifies this homestead as belonging to a Sart, a term used in the early 1900s to refer not only to town dwellers, but also to people who inhabited this area before the coming of Uzbek tribes in the 16th century. The structure has a mixture of elements, with traditional decoration along the cornice and a Russian pattern for the veranda railing. The attached building on the left reflects a simple Russian design with a pitched iron roof. The elevated plan took advantage of cooling breezes for the main living space. The dwelling and service buildings are enclosed by an adobe wall. Two figures are seated at a makeshift opening in the wall. The image is by Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944), who used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire. Prokudin-Gorskii was particularly interested in recently acquired territories of the Russian Empire such as Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan and neighboring states), which he visited on a number of occasions, including two trips in 1911. Turkestan appealed to him not only for its Islamic architecture but also for scenes of local life in places such as Samarkand.