A small property on Lubyanka Passage, separated from the neighboring property No. 5 by Lubyanka Dead End, has been owned by merchants since the late 18th century. In the late 19th century, it became the property of merchant Yegor Ivanovich Nekrasov, who managed Rhine cellars and inns on Ivanovskaya Hill. Together with his son Dmitry Egorovich, he also owned a tea packaging factory and a tea shop.

In 1876, architect P.P. Skomoroshchenko built income-generating houses around the perimeter of the plot, leaving a small inner courtyard. This courtyard can be accessed through an arch from Lubyanka Dead End. It is often rented by restaurants for setting up summer terraces.

In 1900, architect N.D. Strukov added an additional floor to the courtyard building. To this day, a faded advertisement reading "19 Tea of Nekrasov 00" remains on the wall below the fourth floor to the left of the entrance to the courtyard. The house facing the alley housed a tea shop and furnished rooms called "Commercial Rooms."