Varsonofievsky Lane got its name from the Ascension Varnofiev Monastery, founded here no later than the early 16th century. Next to the monastery was a "poor house" with a cemetery, where the homeless, beggars, and travelers who died far from home were buried. False Dmitry I, upon coming to power, transferred the remains of Tsar Boris Godunov from the Kremlin's Archangel Cathedral here to humiliate his opponent. Later, under Vasily Shuisky, Godunov's remains were reburied in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The Ascension Church of the monastery, abolished under Catherine II, was demolished in 1931.

From the mid-18th century, the property opposite the monastery belonged to the Pletnev merchants. In the 1820s, it was acquired by Ivan Maltsev, who used the site for warehouses and wholesale stores. By the end of the 19th century, the new owner was Prince Andrei Gagarin, who commissioned engineer N.G. Faleev to build a four-story income house here in the style of classicized eclecticism (modern No. 8). This was one of Faleev's first buildings in Moscow. Later, he constructed many interesting buildings in the city, including the Ermak Technical School and several income houses.

The house has preserved pre-revolutionary interiors of the stairwell and apartments with stucco ceilings and tiled stoves.

In the 1920s-30s, the mother of the famous artist Vladimir Yakhontov lived here, who became the first actor to perform monodramas, creating the genre of "one-man theater." Their apartment often hosted actors and writers, including the poet O. Mandelstam.

In the 1970s, a popular society called "Fisherman-Athlete" was located on the first floor of the building.

Interestingly, in this or a neighboring house, Ilf and Petrov placed Ellochka-Lyudoedka: it was here that the "great combinator" came for two chairs "from the palace."