One of the most remarkable architectural ensembles in Kaluga is the Tolmachev House, built in 1814 on the order of the wealthy merchant Khvostikov. It was constructed on the site of an old estate destroyed during Napoleon's invasion and became an example of the restoration of estates affected by Bonaparte's army.

Interestingly, the building is associated not with the first owners, but with the third. The estate included several ancient structures, but only the central wooden house with columns, executed in the style of Catherine's classicism, has survived to this day. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, this style was popular not only in the capital but also in provincial cities and estates. The craftsmanship of serf architects was evident in the creation of wooden structures with elements characteristic of stone buildings: classical porticos, elegant stucco and carved details, columns. In the central part of Russia, there was enough building timber, so wooden buildings in the classical style began to appear, creating entire ensembles. This style has entered history as Russian wooden classicism, which has no analogs in Europe. The Tolmachev estate is a valuable example of this style and one of the most beautiful in the Kaluga region. The exact name of the project author is unknown, but local art historians suggest it might have been the architect Ivan Yasnigin, who built the Trinity Cathedral and participated in the construction of the Trading Rows.

As for the owners, in 1874 the estate passed from Khvostov's daughters to the wife of the Kaluga treasurer Goncharova. In 1881, it was acquired by the noble family of Tolmachevs, whose name has remained in the name of the ensemble. The first owner from the Tolmachev family was Privy Councillor Ivan Ivanovich Tolmachev, the younger son of the Meshchovsk judge Ivan Sidorovich Tolmachev, who was awarded for participating in the liberation of Europe from Napoleon. Ivan Ivanovich graduated from the cadet corps and served in the Smolensk Hussar Regiment. He was awarded the ranks of lieutenant, captain, and for his years of service was promoted to titular adviser, then to collegiate assessors and privy councillors. He worked as a special assignments official in the Kaluga Treasury Chamber and had a bronze medal for suppressing the Polish uprising. Ivan Ivanovich and his wife Ekaterina Pavlovna had five sons and a daughter, Antonina. The sons graduated from cadet corps and became defenders of the Fatherland.

From this estate, nine men from the Tolmachev family went to the front during World War I. Only two returned: son Vladimir and grandson Alexei. Valery, Vyacheslav, Georgy, Nikolai, Ivan, and Yakov perished on the fields of the Great War. Granddaughter Alexandra Nikolaevna Tolmacheva worked in the hospital of the Osorgin estate from the first days of the war, then in Moscow hospitals, and after the war, in the Sergievsky skit sanatorium, helping wounded soldiers. The 20th century ruthlessly destroyed the large family, and to this day, only the estate, postcards, photographs, and memories remain from the Tolmachevs.

After the Bolsheviks came to power, the estate was confiscated and turned into communal apartments. Over decades of such treatment, the architectural monument fell into disrepair and was on the verge of disappearance. After the residents were relocated in 2011, the unique monument, practically the only surviving example of wooden architecture from the early 19th century in Central Russia, almost completely burned down. While the house was vacant, it was looted by treasure hunters and homeless people.

Only thanks to the efforts of concerned residents of Kaluga was an auction held for the right to restore and use the house. It was won by a private construction corporation, which undertook the restoration. A few years ago, the repairs were completed, and there were talks about a possible museum opening, but so far, they have remained just words. Here, it would be possible to house not only a museum of the Russian estate and Catherine's classicism but also to tell the story of the Tolmachev family, which disappeared in the whirlpool of the 20th century.