Oil extraction has always been a profitable business, and even in the second half of the 19th century, this activity was just beginning to develop but already yielded significant results. One of the first oil industrialists in the Russian Empire was the Old Believer Sidor Martynovich Shibaev, who owned an oil refinery in Baku. At that time, the export of crude oil abroad was prohibited, so domestic production of various oil products was actively developed.

Shibaev's business was so successful that in 1870 he bought a mansion on Novaya Basmannaya Street. This building was constructed a hundred years earlier at the request of Prince Beloselsky, but with the growth of wealthy merchants, it was sold and transformed from a noble estate into a merchant's house. The new owner decided to remodel it to his taste and invited the famous architect Alexander Stepanovich Kaminsky for a major reconstruction. As a result of the work, the entrance was completely changed, decorations in the ancient Russian style were added, the windows and corners of the house were altered, and decorative towers appeared on the facade.

After Shibaev's death in 1888, the building belonged to his widow until 1899. Then the state purchased it and transferred it to the Ministry of Health to create a branch of the Basmannaya Hospital. With the advent of Soviet power, the former Shibaev house was mainly used for administrative purposes, and in our time, it became private property. It is worth noting that in its status as state property, the building suffered greatly and lost its towers; however, after its sale, it was restored. Although I have not had the chance to visit this house, visitors note the well-restored stucco, the renovated hall and staircase, as well as other interior elements.