In the 18th century, a vast estate owned by the Naryshkins was located on Volkhnka. At that time, this was the initial section of Prechistenka, starting from the corner of present-day Lenivka. The name "Volkhnka" only appeared in the 19th century. After the death of Privy Councillor and Chamberlain A.V. Naryshkin in 1800, his possessions were divided. The distant part along Volkhnka, where house No. 13 is now located, remained with the Naryshkins. The plot at the corner with Lenivka (current houses No. 9 and 11) went to Alexei Fyodorovich Griboedov, the uncle of the famous poet and diplomat A.S. Griboedov, through his wife Anastasia Semyonovna Naryshkina.

In 1806, A.F. Griboedov sold the estate and moved to Zamoskvorechye. The new owner became merchant A.M. Zimulin. In 1825, Zimulin sold the main house and the wing on Lenivka to Major General I.T. Snazin, retaining part of the estate for himself. In September of the same year, artist Vasily Andreyevich Tropinin rented a space from Zimulin in the "stone wing on the main street," the modern house No. 11, building 6. Tropinin, a serf of Count I.I. Morkov, gained his freedom only in 1823 at the age of 47. He settled on Volkhnka, where in the winter of 1826-27, Pushkin posed for him for a portrait. The poet's friend Sergey Sobolevsky recalled that Pushkin secretly commissioned a portrait from Tropinin and gifted it to Sobolevsky as a surprise.

Tropinin lived at this address for seven years, then moved to the left wing of the same estate on Lenivka, where he reunited with his family, who also gained their freedom. This three-story house has survived to this day and is distinguished by a large window on the upper floor, behind which, it is believed, was the artist's studio. Here, he created his famous self-portrait against the backdrop of the Kremlin. Tropinin lived on Lenivka for almost 25 years, and a year before his death, he moved to Bolshaya Polyanka in Zamoskvorechye, to his own house.

Interestingly, a memorial plaque dedicated to Tropinin is installed on house No. 9, built in 1878 according to the design of architect M.I. Nikiforov, 21 years after the artist's death, on the site of the main house of the estate where he never lived.

House No. 11 on Volkhnka, associated with the names of Tropinin and Pushkin, is protected by the state as a cultural heritage site of regional significance. One hopes that the wing on Lenivka will also be protected, especially considering that the artist's house in Zamoskvorechye has not survived.