Income house number 24 on Leontievsky Lane was built in 1899 according to the design of architect A.A. Meingard in an eclectic style. It was one of two residential buildings created by the architect, who mainly worked on state and public buildings.

Initially, the house belonged to lieutenant P.P. Nikitin, and then it passed to engineer R.P. Sablin, who oversaw the repair of the tracks and buildings of the Ryazan-Kozlov Railway in 1888-1889.

In 1901, the artist of the Imperial Theaters F.I. Shalyapin settled in Sablin's house, where he lived until 1904. In 1902, the owner of the house became Moscow merchant A.I. Katyk, who founded the largest cartridge factory in the world. With the new owner, Shalyapin signed a detailed contract on May 28, 1902, in which he agreed not to keep poultry in the yard and to ensure that his servants chopped firewood in a designated place, not in the rooms, kitchen, or on the stairs. At the same time, in 1901-1902, composer S.V. Rachmaninoff lived in the house.

Katyk's house became the last Moscow address of A.P. Chekhov. In May 1904, being seriously ill, the writer spent several weeks here. He wrote to his sister: "Dear Masha, I am still in bed, have not dressed once, have not gone out, and am still in the same condition as when you left." Despite his illness, Chekhov continued to attend to business and conceived a new play. Friends visited him: V. Gilyarovsky, V. Goltsov, N. Telezhov. The latter recalled: "On the sofa, surrounded by pillows, in either a coat or a robe, with a blanket over his legs, sat a thin, almost small man with narrow shoulders, with a narrow bloodless face, so emaciated, exhausted, and unrecognizable Anton Pavlovich." From here, on June 2, the writer departed for Germany, from which he never returned alive.

A.I. Katyk did not own the house for long, which then passed to L.G. Pyltsova and remained in her possession until 1917. During the Soviet era, the building continued to be used as a residence.