Modern Rostov-on-Don boasts numerous architectural monuments from the pre-revolutionary era; however, many of them, instead of being examples of content and attracting tourists, are in a deplorable state. One such historical building is the former income house of Madam M.F. Kofus, built in 1904.

Information about the first owner of this building, once an income house of Madam Kofus, has not survived to this day. It is only known that it was originally a two-story structure that housed a tavern (modern residents joke that this is why the building survived, as taverns do not burn). Later, the enterprising Madam Kofus acquired the house and remodeled it into a large income house. The work was completed in 1912, and according to some sources, the project was designed by the famous architect Leonid Fyodorovich Eberg, who arrived in Rostov-on-Don in 1911. Soon after the reconstruction, the building was sold to the Pavlovsky couple, who, in addition to managing the income house, were engaged in the trade of musical instruments on Bolshaya Sadovaya.

The new income house was equipped with luxurious apartments with the most modern amenities of that time, which cost a considerable amount of money. In 1915, the Warsaw University arrived in the city, evacuated due to the enemy advance. After that, professors and instructors from the university occupied all the apartments in the income house until the arrival of the Bolsheviks.

With the advent of Soviet power, the residents of the house faced repression due to their high education; at that time, one could be shot for having a 'too intelligent face.' Thus perished the brother of the famous Cossack writer Fyodor Kryukov (one of the true authors of the materials included in 'And Quiet Flows the Don'). The former income house of Kofus (Pavlovsky) turned into communal housing, the interior decor was mostly lost, but the building as a whole has survived and still impresses with its external grandeur.

Unfortunately, despite its status as a cultural heritage site of regional significance, the necessary repairs in the building have still not been carried out, and it is deteriorating before the eyes of the city authorities. The city hall is located just a few hundred meters away, but officials are taking no action to save one of the most beautiful monuments of pre-revolutionary architecture.