In pre-revolutionary Rostov-on-Don, charity played an important role and was considered an honorable occupation. The head of the city council, Pyotr Romanovich Maximov, a hereditary honorary citizen and a prominent merchant, also contributed. He bequeathed funds for the construction of the House of Diligence.

The opening of the Rostov House of Diligence took place with the approval of Nicholas II. On March 30, 1896, the emperor approved the "Charter of the Guardianship of the House of Diligence named after Pyotr Romanovich Maximov and other houses of diligence and related charitable institutions in Rostov-on-Don." The guardianship was under the patronage of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and its office was located in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The Rostov House of Diligence became the first charitable institution in Russia named after a local merchant. P. R. Maximov, a representative of an industrial-trading dynasty and a first-guild merchant, bequeathed 200,000 rubles for the creation and maintenance of this institution.

The complex of buildings of the House of Diligence was constructed after the death of Pyotr Romanovich, who passed away a year before the construction began. On July 15, 1896, the council of guardians approved the designs of the buildings developed by academician of architecture G. A. Emerik and engineer F. K. Shimkevich. The construction was overseen by the chief architect of the city, Nikolai Matveevich Solovyov.

On July 28, 1896, the foundation of the buildings was laid. Here, craft workshops, plumbing, heating, and lighting were established, as well as dormitories with baths, laundries, a library, and a nursery. On October 5, 1897, the building was consecrated by Archpriest John of Kronstadt, who was at the origins of the first House of Diligence in the Russian Empire, opened in 1881 in Kronstadt. In 1896, Ivan Stepanovich Levanidov headed the council of guardians. Its members, besides Maximov's heirs, included other notable citizens, including Baron Nikolai Egorovich Wrangel, the father of the leader of the White Movement, Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel.

In 1903, a church was built at the House of Diligence, which was always full of worshippers. During World War I, the House of Diligence became especially important for the residents of Rostov and was constantly overcrowded.

At the most difficult moment of the war, by order of the Ministry of War, the main building was occupied by the 69th evacuation hospital for wounded and sick soldiers. The House of Diligence suspended its traditional activities; only the school and the orphanage for girls, located in auxiliary premises, continued to operate.

The House of Diligence ceased to exist in 1917 under the Provisional Government and was subsequently confiscated by the Bolsheviks. Currently, it houses the administration of the Rostov State Medical University. The building is a monument of urban planning and architecture, is included in the list of cultural heritage sites of regional significance, and consists of three buildings.