Opening date and history of the building

A cozy two-story mansion, retaining the monumental features characteristic of early Moscow classicism, is located facing the red line of the former 1st Meshchanskaya Street, now Prospekt Mira. This building, a monument of architecture, was the main house of a small estate owned by Luka Ivanovich Dolgov, a titular counselor and notable citizen who was granted nobility for his charity during the plague epidemic in Moscow from 1770 to 1772. The mansion was built in 1770 according to the design of architect V.I. Bazhenov, who was married to the owner's daughter, Agrafena Lukinichna.

Owners and important figures

After Dolgov's death, the house passed to his widow Susanna Filippovna (née Arshilevskaya). The original appearance of the mansion can be judged by a drawing from 1801, preserved in the Albums of M.F. Kazakov. Initially, besides the uninhabited basement, the first floor, and the preserved main floor, the house had another residential third floor, where bedrooms and corner offices were located. The facades with pilasters on flat risalits and large windows with heavy architraves and attics were executed in the Doric style. The windows of the central hall on the main floor, surrounded by smaller rooms, overlooked the courtyard.

Reconstruction and restoration

The fire of 1812 destroyed the upper floor of the mansion, which was dismantled during the restoration in 1838. At that time, the pilasters were removed, and the facade acquired a modern appearance. Changes also affected the layout of the house, which was modified to include an enfilade. The restoration was carried out at the expense of the new owner, a young merchant of the 1st guild, Yegor Fyodorovich Shestov.

Until 1873, the mansion was acquired by Vladimir Vlasovich Shchenkov, a senior member of the Moscow merchant class and founder of the trading house “V. Shchenkov and Sons.” Under him, in 1891-1892, the mansion was reconstructed according to the design of architect P.P. Zykov-the second. An extension and entrance to the basement were made from the courtyard side. The main entrance with a lace cast-iron porch and marble staircase was moved to the northern side of the building, and a cast-iron staircase appeared in the rear rooms. Eclectic stucco ceilings and Corinthian columns were preserved in the enfilade halls. After Shchenkov's death, the house passed to his widow Maria Sergeevna and his sons Sergey, Nikolai, Alexander, and Vlasiy.

Modern use

In the 1920s, the building housed private apartments. According to the plan, opposite the house was the Church of Adrian and Natalia in the Meshchanskaya Sloboda, demolished around 1934. In 1973, the Dzerzhinsky District Registry Office of Moscow opened in the mansion, now the “Meshchansky” Registry Office of the Meshchansky District.