The two-story brick building of the almshouse is part of the complex of the Church of St. Catherine in Vspolye. The history of this complex dates back to the 16th century. On the lands of the Ekaterininskaya Belilnaya Sloboda, founded by Tsarina Anastasia Romanovna, the first wife of Ivan the Terrible, a wooden church was built in honor of St. Catherine the Great Martyr, to whom prayers were offered for easing childbirth and protecting children.

The church has been documented since 1612. Literature mentions that it was erected on the site of the battle between Russian troops and Polish-Lithuanian forces. After the defeat at the Klimentovsky Ostrog, Hetman Khotkevich moved his troops here, establishing fortifications. The battle ended with a Russian victory, and likely in honor of this victory, the church was rebuilt in stone in the mid-17th century. At the end of the century, it was renovated again.

The modern stone church is associated with Empress Catherine II. It was built at her behest with state funds in memory of her coronation in Moscow. The icon of St. Catherine was adorned with a precious robe featuring the empress's monogram, donated by her. The church's design was commissioned from architect K.I. Blank. The new church was executed in the Baroque style. All icons in the iconostasis were painted by the renowned artist D.G. Levitsky in collaboration with V.I. Vasilievsky. K. Blank created a composition of two churches: a summer and a winter one, connected by a two-tiered bell tower, the lower tier of which served as the vestibule for the summer Catherine Church.

The Catherine Church is a rare example of late Baroque architecture in Moscow. The unique fence along Bolshaya Ordynka and Pogorelsky Lane was installed in 1769 according to K.I. Blank's design. It used forged links made in 1731 for the enclosure of the Cathedral Square in the Kremlin. In the 1740s, the fence in the Kremlin was dismantled, and in 1769, by order of the empress, it was used for this church. Until the 1920s, the central rods were topped with Russian coats of arms, and the gate pylons were adorned with white stone eagles. In 1879-1880, architect D.I. Pevitsky built a two-story stone almshouse to replace the wooden one at the corner of Pogorelsky and Shchetininsky Lanes.

In 1931, the church was closed. The icon of St. Catherine was transferred to the Church of the Resurrection in Monetchiki, and after its demolition, to the Church of Flora and Lavra in Zatsepa. The latter was also closed, and the fate of the icon is unknown. After the closure of the Church of St. Catherine, the bell tower was destroyed down to the first tier, and the domes were dismantled. The winter Spassky Church was used as housing, while the summer Catherine Church served as an office. Later, the church building housed the Central Design and Engineering Bureau of Instrument Engineering, and the almshouse was converted into communal apartments.

In the 1970s, the church and almshouse complex was occupied by the All-Union Art Restoration Center named after Grabar, which began its restoration. In 1992, the church was partially returned to the faithful. In 1994, by the decision of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, the church became a representation of the Orthodox Church in America under the Moscow Patriarchate.