In 1812, Princess Anna Shakhovskaya divided her extensive estate on Arbat into two parts. She kept the eastern part for herself and sold the western part. The modern house No. 12 is located on the eastern part that remained with Shakhovskaya. Here she built a two-story house.

In 1873, the new owner, merchant Orlov, expanded the house by adding a two-story annex. In 1889, the building was raised by two floors and renovated. It has remained in this form to this day. The artist Sergey Ivanovich Vashkov lived here, who also engaged in architecture. According to his sketches, house No. 14 on Chistoprudny Boulevard was built, known for its reliefs of decorative animals in the ancient Vladimir style. These sketches were used by architect Vasily Ivanovich Motylev when designing the church in the neo-Russian style at the Klyazma platform. The western part of the old estate later received the number 14.

Since 1702, the plot 12-14 belonged to the clerk of the land order Fyodosey Manukov, who in 1728 transferred the estate as a dowry to his daughter Avdotya Fyodoseyevna. She married Lieutenant Vasily Suvorov of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, who later became a governor-general, overseeing the Russian administration in Prussia in 1760-1761 under Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Many researchers of Moscow believe that it was here, in the old chambers of Manukov, that the Suvorovs' son Alexander was born and spent his childhood, later becoming an outstanding commander of Russia.

In the late 18th century, the old house was rebuilt according to the design of M. F. Kazakov, receiving a six-column portico and a triangular pediment. The house was damaged in the fire of 1812 but was restored and in the first half of the 19th century belonged to Prince M. A. Obolensky.

For a long time, the building stood abandoned, inhabited by vagrants, and the Muscovites of that time called it the "house with ghosts." During the Great Patriotic War, a bomb hit the house, and for about 70 years, plot 14 has remained without buildings. On the site of the old main house, there is now a retaining wall faced with ceramic tiles featuring designs, known as the wall of Karolina Marks. It is named after the journalist who conceived and implemented the idea of painting tiles by children from different countries and cities.