A modest two-story house with a wooden part was once known throughout theatrical Moscow as the Sekretarev Theater. On part of a large estate owned by merchant F. Lang in the early 19th century, in 1860, state councilor P. Sekretarev created a small private theater in his home. Despite its compact size, the auditorium was two stories high and had all the attributes of a real theater: a parterre, tiers, boxes, a gallery, an orchestra, and wings. The entrance for artists and the stage were located on the right side of the facade, while the audience entered through the entrance on the left. The first floor housed a cloakroom and kitchen, while the second floor had a dance hall and a buffet.

At the Sekretarev Theater, plays were staged that could not be shown on the imperial stage. Here, amateur actors performed alongside professionals. Future famous actors such as N. Roshchin-Insarov, A. Artem, N. Muzil, and M. Pisarev began their careers here. Savva Mamontov also performed here, and Stanislavsky started his theatrical life, taking his pseudonym from Alexei Fyodorovich Markov, who left the theater after obtaining his medical diploma.

Later, the theater building was rented by the 'Society of Art and Literature' with a theater school, organized in 1888 by opera singer F. Komissarzhevsky, artist F. Sollogub, and directors A. Fedotov and K. Stanislavsky.

In 1892, the Sekretarev Theater ceased to exist, and the house passed to Dr. A. Kornilov, who established a hydrotherapy clinic there. Before the Soviet regime, the building also housed the Anti-Alcohol Museum of the Capital's Guardianship for Public Sobriety, maintained by private funds.

This house also played a role in the development of Armenian theater: many Armenian students transitioned from here to the professional stage. From 1917 to 1924, the hall was used by the Jewish theater 'Habima,' where Evgeny Vakhtangov was a teacher.