The Rakov House, known as the "Children's World" store or "Rakushka," was built in 1911 for merchant Pyotr Stepanovich Rakov. It was designed by Kaluga city architect Vasily Dmitrievich Vinogradov. An interesting architectural technique was used in its construction: since Kirov and Lenin streets intersect at an unusual angle, the main entrance was arranged to conceal this.

Pyotr Stepanovich Rakov was born in 1869 on Oblupskaya Street (now Theater Street) in a family of a middle-class merchant. Their old house (Theater Street, 9) is located opposite the monument to K.E. Tsiolkovsky. Pyotr helped his parents with trade, graduated from the city school, and after serving in the army, returned to his hometown, where he married Nadezhda Vasilyevna Zaverina, the daughter of a well-known Kaluga merchant.

Pyotr began his trading activities in 1894 after his military service. Having established himself, he became a member of the City Duma in 1899 and joined the trade and industrial committee at the State Bank, which allowed him to obtain a loan for the construction of a modern mansion-store.

The first floor of the house housed a department store, while the second floor contained living quarters, an office, and a hall where representatives of the City Duma met until 1917. Rakov was known as a mover and shaker: he organized a free library, and one of the readers, in gratitude, took his son Kolya on excursions around Kaluga. Kolya later became a famous composer and professor at the Moscow Conservatory.

After the 1917 revolution, Pyotr Stepanovich voluntarily handed over the house and valuables to the state and began working in his former store. In 1932, he was exiled to the Arkhangelsk region, where he died in 1944. From 1918 to the 1930s and after the war, the City Council was located on the second floor of his house, from the balcony of which city leaders gave speeches.

On March 14, 1908, the sixth child, Nikolai, was born into the Rakov family, who was passionate about music from childhood. In 1926, he entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied under Reinhold Glière. After graduating in 1931, he remained a teacher and became a professor in 1943. Nikolai Rakov trained many famous composers and wrote manuals on orchestration. He died in Moscow on November 3, 1990, and was buried at the Don Cemetery.

Unfortunately, many decorative elements of the Rakov House have not survived, and its beauty can only be judged by old photographs. Today, the building is used as a shopping center.