A beautiful example of classical Moscow architecture, included by M. F. Kazakov in the album of the best private buildings in the city, adorns the corner of Romanov Lane and Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street.

The oldest part of the house, located on the lane, dates back to the mid-18th century. It is possible that this wing includes fragments of the ancient chambers of Boyar Bogdan Matveyevich Khitrovo, which stood here in the 17th century. In the 18th century, the corner plot belonged to the Ober-President of the magistrate S. Zinovyev, then to the chamberlain S. Klokachev, from 1761 to Prince A. Golitsyn, and from 1765 to Count Vladimir Grigorievich Orlov, the youngest of the famous Orlov brothers.

The main house was rebuilt twice in the late 18th century. In 1792, it became two stories, and in 1799, M. Kazakov was invited for a major reconstruction. On the courtyard side, stone two-story "seni" (vestibules) were erected between two risalits, along with a vestibule with a balcony from which dancers could exit, making the house unique in Moscow. Kazakov's albums contain drawings of the interior decoration of the halls, including sofas and chandeliers.

In the 1830s, after a fire, the restoration and decoration of the house were handled by O. Bove and S. Campioni, during which a third floor was added.

The facade of the house from the street is strictly symmetrical, with its center highlighted by a portico of four Corinthian order pilasters, which were Ionic before the 1812 fire. Between the pilasters in the center are bas-reliefs on ancient themes, possibly the work of S. Campioni.

On the second floor of the house was a large ballroom. On the garden side, it opened onto an open gallery where guests could stroll, cooling off after dancing. It is now closed, with only the remnants of the columns that adorned it visible. On the third floor, in the mezzanine, was the house church of St. Vladimir, whose decoration has been preserved since the late 18th century. On the first floor was a grotto lined with coral. The second floor retained Bove's decoration, slightly altered in the late 19th century.

The children of Count Orlov were taught by their tutor V. Kyukhelbekker, and the composer A. Gurilev, a serf of Orlov, lived in the house. Later, the house passed to Orlov's daughter, Sofia Vladimirovna Panina, and after her, until 1917, it belonged to the princes Meshchersky: Sofia Panina's daughter Maria, who married Prince N. Meshchersky, the grandson of N. Karamzin, and their descendants. In 1860, the Decembrist S. Trubetskoy died here.

From 1934 to 1970, the building housed the historical faculty of Moscow University, then the publishing house of Moscow University, which now shares it with prestigious restaurants.