On the day of the coup, Catherine II appeared before the guard units in a borrowed uniform. She could not appear in a lady's dress, and there was no time to sew her own uniform, so she had to use the uniform of sub-lieutenant Alexander Talizin of the Semenovsky regiment. Later, this uniform, adorned with the Order of St. Andrew, was returned to its owner. Almost a quarter of a century later, Talizin, having retired with the rank of actual chamberlain and privy councilor, settled in Moscow and purchased a house on Vozdvizhenka from the Georgian prince George Bagrationi (now house No. 5/25).

The history of this estate can be traced back to the 1620s when the plot was divided between the Pskov Pechersky Monastery and the nobleman I. Pisemsky. In the middle of the century, there was the estate of boyar Ivan Miloslavsky, a relative of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. In 1659, the treasury acquired his house for the placement of the New Apothecary Yard. In the 1670s, active construction began under the guidance of Guriy Varfolomeev. Along Shuysky Lane (now Starovagankovsky), the Refectory of the Apothecary Yard was built. In the early 18th century, after the Apothecary Yard moved to the Meshchanskaya sloboda, the estate passed to the diplomat V. Dolgoruky. It is possible that it was during his time that the building known as the 'Gardener's House' was constructed. Under Empress Anna Ioannovna, Dolgoruky was arrested, and his estate was transferred to the Georgian king Vakhtang, who moved to Russia. At this time, a stone house appeared at the corner of Vozdvizhenka and Starovagankovsky Lane, likely designed by P. Yeropkin. This chamber may have partially survived in the modern building.

A. Talizin acquired the estate from the heirs of Vakhtang VI. By 1787, a three-story building with two wings was constructed along the red line of Vozdvizhenka. The author of the project is unknown, but according to one version, it was M.F. Kazakov. The ensemble of the Talizyn estate is recorded in his 'Architectural Albums.'

The estate remained in the possession of the Talizyn family until 1805, then it was sold to the Ustinov merchants. The estate was significantly rebuilt, with two-story transitions between the main house and the wings, and the facades received Empire-style decoration. Under the Ustinovs, the mansion became a cultural salon of Moscow, hosting musical evenings attended by the Vyazemsky brothers, Denis Davydov, and Pushkin. Among the representatives of this family was the famous British actor and director Sir Peter Ustinov.

In 1845, the estate was sold to the Ministry of Finance, and the Moscow district treasury and the Moscow state chamber were located here. In the mid-1890s, the side parts of the main house were raised by a third floor, and the building acquired its current appearance.

In 1920, the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) moved into the mansion, where Stalin's and the secretaries of the Central Committee Molotov's and Kuibyshev's offices were located. Later, the building housed the State Planning Committee of the USSR and the Ministry of Justice. In the 1930s, the estate was turned into a dormitory and then into communal housing, which seriously damaged the interiors.

After World War II, part of the building was transferred to the new Museum of Russian Architecture. Restoration was complicated by the fact that people continued to live in the house. The last resident moved out in January 1961.

The museum complex includes: the main house of the estate with wings, the Refectory of the New Apothecary Yard (service wing), the former Stable Block (service wing, 'Ruina' wing), and the 'Gardener's House.'