The building on Konyushkovskaya Street is connected to the activities of the first natural science societies in Russia. In 1857, initiated by Professor A. P. Bogdanov of Moscow University and under the patronage of the imperial family, the Acclimatization Society began its work. In 1864, it was renamed the Imperial Russian Society for the Acclimatization of Animals and Plants. The main task of the society was to create the first zoo in the city. Initially, it was planned to be located in the Neskuchny Garden, but later, by the emperor's decision, the complex was established near the Upper Presnensky Pond, where it remains today. A botanical garden was planned around the Lower Presnensky Pond, which at that time was located between Upper-Pudovaya (now Konyushkovskaya Street) and Lower-Pudovaya Streets, but its creation progressed less successfully. In 1892, the second All-Russian Botanical and Acclimatization Exhibition took place on the territory of the unfinished botanical garden.

Most of the exhibition pavilions were temporary wooden structures intended to be dismantled after its conclusion. An exception was the pavilion of the educational department, built with funds from the famous Moscow pharmacist V. K. Ferrein, which was the only brick building. A stone fence was added to give the exhibition a more elegant appearance. Visitors noted that the pavilion was "solid, red, in Greco-Egyptian style" and described it as a "temple of science." The main facade, executed in a pseudo-classical style and adorned with sculpture, faced the water, from where the best view of the building was available. The exhibition in the pavilion was unusual: the windows were shaded with slides featuring enlarged microscopic fragments of plants, boxes with remnants of ancient plants stood in the halls, Chinese utensils and botanical collections were displayed, and Chinese paintings were hung on the walls. The latest instruments for scientific research were also demonstrated.

Ferrein intended to donate the building for a botanical museum and gifted it to the society after the exhibition. Soon it was decided to use it for a bacteriological and agronomic station, which housed a phytobacteriological laboratory founded by Ferrein and a phytoparasitological laboratory under the direction of Professor V. A. Tikhomirov. Scientific circles considered the establishment of the station an important outcome of the exhibition.

The official opening date of the station is considered to be September 1, 1864; this date, inscribed in Roman numerals, complemented the Latin inscription "For the Study of Nature" above the entrance. With Ferrein's funds, the necessary equipment was purchased, and later the government allocated a subsidy for the further operation of the station. In the early 20th century, in search of funds to maintain the Moscow Zoo, the society was forced to lease all its buildings in the Lower Presnensky Pond area, except for the station. Subsequently, to settle debts, all lands were returned to the palace department, except for the station.

Contemporaries recalled that only memories of the garden remained, and around the station, shabby buildings grew. The view of the station from the pond also suffered, as part of the pond was filled in. As a result, the building of the botanical station lost its free location in the garden-park ensemble and became part of the ordinary development of Upper-Pudovaya Street, renamed around 1913 to Bolshaya Konyushkovskaya. The building's body receded from the red line, reminiscent of the development of old Moscow estates.

During the revolutionary events of 1905, the building was damaged by shells but was partially repaired at state expense. From 1907, the station expanded its scope of work and staff. For their accommodation, a stone wing was built on the station's territory in 1908. In the early years of Soviet power, the station was under the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture and until recently retained its functions as a scientific institution.

The ensemble of the Ferrein pavilion has been well preserved to this day; however, the building of the botanical station was raised during the Soviet era, and the sphinxes, vases, sculptural portraits, and stucco friezes that adorned the building were lost.