The building, originally two stories, was constructed between 1764 and 1772 by architect M.F. Kazakov, who preserved fragments of ancient chambers that belonged in the early 18th century to Peter I's secretary A.V. Makarov and Prince D.A. Koltsov-Mosalsky. In 1771, Empress Catherine II awarded P.D. Eropkin with estates and 4,000 serfs for suppressing the plague rebellion, but he refused, which earned him even greater respect from Muscovites. Eropkin also declined an invitation to move to the house on Tverskaya for governors-general and remained in his mansion.

The interiors of the house were distinguished by luxury, including a private church. The Eropkins were known for their hospitality: every guest was warmly welcomed and fed. The mansion hosted brilliant balls, which A.S. Pushkin attended in his childhood. After the owners' death, the house passed to the Eropkins' nephews, the Novosiltsovs, and then to the princes Gagarins.

In 1806, the building was sold for 35,000 rubles to the Moscow Merchant Society, which opened a Commercial School there to educate the children of merchants and townspeople. Both professional and humanities subjects were taught. Among the notable alumni were physicist S.I. Vavilov, writer I.A. Goncharov, geneticist N.I. Vavilov, and others.

In 1807-1808, architect D.I. Zhilyardi reconstructed and expanded the building. After the fire of 1812, it had to be restored, adding a third floor, a classical facade, and a portico. In 1817, a church of Mary Magdalene was established with frescoes by Vasnetsov and Nesterov. In 1820, historian S.M. Solovyov was born here. In 1847, the building received an extension for the dormitories and classrooms of the students, and it has remained in this form to this day.

During the Great Patriotic War, the house miraculously survived, as a bomb dropped in the courtyard turned out to be filled with sand. After the war, a monument to the 'Soldier of the Militia' was erected in the square opposite in honor of those who went to the front. In 1930, the Moscow Institute of New Languages was founded here. Over the years, the name of the educational institution changed, and now the building bears the name of the Moscow State Linguistic University.