In the autumn of 1898, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov settled in Yalta. At the end of October, he purchased a plot on the outskirts of the city, in the village of Verkhnyaya Autka, where he built a new house and a wing for his family, forming a unified architectural ensemble.

From August 1899 to May 1, 1904, Chekhov lived in this house with his mother, Yevgeniya Yakovlevna, and his sister, Maria Pavlovna. His wife, Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhov, an actress of the Moscow Art Theatre, visited when she was not busy with rehearsals and performances.

The housewarming took place on September 9, 1899. The locals nicknamed Chekhov's house in Yalta the "White Dacha." Here, he wrote the novella "In the Ravine," stories "The Lady with the Dog," "Archpriest," "At Christmas Time," "The Bride," and the plays "Three Sisters" and "The Cherry Orchard," as well as edited the first Complete Works. In a letter to his sister dated August 3, 1901, Anton Pavlovich bequeathed to her the Yalta dacha, money, and income from his dramatic works for her lifetime. After his death, until 1917, Maria Pavlovna often spent winters in Moscow, working with her brother's archive, and summers in the Yalta house to keep it in order. The house was maintained with her funds from royalties for productions of Chekhov's plays and from the published epistolary legacy of the writer.

Maria Pavlovna preserved all of her brother's room furnishings and his literary archive. In the spring of 1917, she and her mother moved permanently to Yalta. Yevgeniya Yakovlevna Chekhov passed away on January 3, 1919, and was buried in Yalta. After the Civil War, on April 9, 1921, Maria Pavlovna received a Protection Certificate from the Yalta Revolutionary Committee, signed by Commissioner M.N. Shabulin, which established the house's status as a state-protected object.

From that time, the White Dacha in Yalta became a state museum, and Maria Pavlovna its lifelong custodian and director. She had to endure the strong earthquake of 1927 and the German-Fascist occupation from 1941 to 1944, but she managed to preserve the house and its contents.

For her contributions to preserving Chekhov's legacy, on July 14, 1944, Maria Pavlovna was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and in 1953, on her 90th birthday, she received the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR. She died on July 15, 1957, and was buried in the Yalta cemetery.

After her death, in 1964, a building for the literary museum was constructed on the neighboring plot, designed by architect Peremilovsky. Here, temporary thematic exhibitions are held, and a permanent exhibition "Life and Work of A.P. Chekhov" is displayed. A marble bust of Chekhov by sculptor N. Lavinsky is installed in front of the building.