Until the mid-19th century, Trubnikovsky Lane was called Krechetnikov. In 1860, the famous lawyer, collector, and bibliophile Dmitry Alexandrovich Rovinsky acquired a house here.

From his youth, he was passionate about collecting Western European and Russian engravings and became the first among domestic collectors to pay attention to Russian lubok.

In the 1840s and 1850s, together with historian Zabelin, Rovinsky traveled through the Russian hinterland, collecting exhibits for his collection. In search of subjects, he purchased engravings during trips to Europe, India, China, Japan, North Africa, and Central Asia. His collection of Rembrandt's etchings became the largest private collection in the world.

Rovinsky published several multi-volume works, where he systematized not only his exhibits but also rarities from other collections. Among them is the four-volume "Detailed Dictionary of Russian Engraved Portraits" and the nine-volume collection "Russian Folk Pictures," which he worked on for 25 years. This work included 1782 illustrations and 2880 pages of descriptions.

Additionally, Rovinsky was a well-known lawyer. Together with Justice Minister D.N. Zamyatnin, he actively participated in judicial reform in Russia. In 1853, he was appointed Moscow provincial prosecutor, and from 1866 he became the prosecutor of the Moscow Judicial Chamber, and in 1868 he headed the criminal department of this chamber. His advice to judicial investigators, "Be first and foremost human beings, and only then officials," he embodied in his life. Rovinsky was an open person, simple in communication, with a sharp mind. He passed away in 1895 in Prussia. He bequeathed his collection of Rembrandt's etchings to the Hermitage and the collection of Russian portraits and luboks to the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow.

On the plot that Rovinsky acquired in 1860, there stood a wooden one-story house in the classical style. The house featured a symmetrical composition with three arched windows and pilasters in the central part, topped with a mezzanine with a triangular pediment. The arched windows were adorned with frames with a shelf and brackets, while the side entrances were framed by pilasters.

After Rovinsky moved to St. Petersburg, under the new owner V.V. Rumyantseva, a grand entrance was added to the house from the southwest side in 1875. The center of the facade was highlighted by pilasters, double "Venetian" windows appeared on the second floor, and above the cornice, a parapet with balusters was added. In 1883 and 1917, two more two-story extensions were added to the house.

In the stone basement, accessed from the courtyard and the first floor, there were a kitchen, utility rooms, and rooms for servants. The layout of the first and second floors was typical for mansions of the mid-19th century, with enfilade arrangements of the main rooms along the main facade.

In 1987, an L-shaped volume was added from the courtyard, the grand entrance from Trubnikovsky Lane was replaced with a window, and historical staircases and stoves were dismantled. During the reconstruction of the 1990s, the facade decor, except for the pilasters, and a large part of the interiors were lost.

In 2016-2018, the facades and preserved elements of the interior were restored, and the lost enfilade layouts were recreated. Based on photographs of the interiors, columns of the Ionic order that separated the drawing rooms, ceiling stucco decor, and stoves were reconstructed.