Unfortunately, many pre-revolutionary buildings in Rostov-on-Don have not survived to this day. Some were destroyed in the early years of Soviet power, while others disappeared in the following decades. Such a fate also befell the income house of Retzker and Khosudovsky, which was once the tallest and most popular in the city.

The house was built in 1916 at the request of merchants Emmanuel Lvovich Retzker and Boris Yermolaevich Khosudovsky. It was erected on the site of an old building where their joint tobacco shop had previously been located. Both entrepreneurs were successful tobacco traders, and Khosudovsky also owned the "Caucasian-Don Engineering Bureau."

Emmanuel Lvovich and Boris Yermolaevich decided to build a large income house, which was designed by the famous architect Leonid Fyodorovich Eberg. The seven-story building with a two-story basement was executed in the Art Nouveau style. It had a U-shaped form and was located on Taganrogsky Avenue (now Budennovsky Avenue), occupying an entire block between Turgenevskaya and Vorontsovskaya Streets (now Bauman Street). The first floor was intended for commercial premises, while the basement was for storage and a boiler room.

In 1916, the house opened to visitors. Life in the city seemed peaceful, despite the war and the February Revolution. The Don was relatively calm, and in the summer, Ataman Alexei Maximovich Kaledin appeared. However, the Bolsheviks sought to seize the region. Rostov was first captured by the Reds in the autumn of 1917 but was soon liberated by Cossacks and volunteers. In February 1918, the Reds came again, but for a short time. In May, the city was liberated by the Drozdoites, Cossacks, and Germans. The income house functioned until January 1920, when the Bolsheviks captured the city again.

The advance of Budyonny's troops turned part of Rostov-on-Don into ruins. The Whites could not hold the city, and the Reds destroyed it with ferocity. The trading house of Retzker and Khosudovsky suffered greatly from shelling and fire, after which it stood empty for a long time, becoming a refuge for homeless children.

By 1923, the building posed a threat to life. Residents of the neighboring house complained about its deplorable condition, but the authorities took no action. The building was fenced off, but this did not stop vagrants, who continued to break down structures for sale. As a result, a wall collapsed, threatening the neighboring house.

On April 14, 1925, the newspaper "Molot" reported on the collapse in the house, which buried homeless children. Rescue operations were complicated by the danger of further collapses.

In 1923, the regional architect's office conducted an inspection of the building and ordered the tenant to take measures to prevent collapses. Inspections continued, and in 1926, the house was deemed suitable for restoration. In 1929, a reconstruction project was drawn up, and in 1930, the "Don" hotel opened in the building. Until 1941, it was the tallest building in the city, but during the war, it burned down again and was dismantled for the construction of a pontoon across the Don. Only a few photographs remain of the house.