Bolshoy Rzhevsky Lane is located between Novy Arbat and Povarskaya Street. In the early 18th century, nobles, officials, and military personnel began to settle here. Two types of development emerged: large noble estates of a suburban type, which gradually transformed into classicist ensembles, and small urban estates with predominantly wooden structures for the serving nobility.

At the site of the modern building No. 5, there were two courtyards belonging to different owners in the first half of the 18th century. In 1749, clerk Andrey Alekseevich Zhukov, who owned the southern courtyard, purchased the neighboring property and combined them. After his death, the plot was sold to a neighbor, nobleman Vasily Dmitrievich Bereznikov, who added it to his estate. Thus, a large estate was formed, occupying a central position in the block and facing Borisoglebsky and Bolshoy Rzhevsky Lanes. The wooden structures of the estate were destroyed in the fire of 1812.

In 1817, the new owner, commissioner of the 8th class M.N. Orlov, divided the plot into two parts and built a one-story wooden house on a stone foundation with a risalit on the courtyard side, which has survived to this day. In 1829, the house was expanded with annexes, while the western part of the plot remained vacant for a long time.

The first drawings of the main facade date back to 1837 and are executed in the style of Moscow Empire. The main decoration of the house was a four-column Ionic portico on a rusticated podium, connected by metal grilles and topped with a cornice and attic.

In 1864, the facade was reconstructed, the portico was replaced with panelled pilasters, and the windows were framed with architraves.

The volumetric-planning structure of the house remained until 1880, when a new annex appeared in the courtyard. In 1888, architect Adolf Nikolaevich Knabe built a two-story stone wing for the wife of the provincial secretary A.T. Nazarova, facing the lane. The wing was added to the northern facade of the estate in place of the demolished outbuildings. Along the western boundary, a stone utility building appeared, which was raised and adapted for housing in the 1920s, and dismantled in the 1970s.

The facade of the main house acquired a lavish decor characteristic of the eclecticism of the mid-19th century, but has survived with losses. The pilaster portico was topped with an attic and pediment, above which decorative vases and a lantern adorned with pilasters and an arcade rose. The walls were smoothly plastered and finished with a cornice with a frieze, decorated in places with triglyphs and metopes. The windows were framed with architraves with "ears" and variously shaped sandriks, and above the two central windows was a rosette.

In 1904, Nazarova donated the building to the Simonov School of the Moscow Charitable Society, adding historical value to it.