The four-story building on Strastnoy Boulevard was constructed between 1874 and 1878 based on the design of architect Nikolai Alexandrovich Tyutyunov. This is one of the first works of the architect, who is also known in Moscow for building several apartment houses and participating in the design of the Children's Hospital of St. Vladimir alongside his colleague R. A. Gyodike.

This building housed the Moscow 1st Women's Gymnasium, which belonged to the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna. Maria Feodorovna began overseeing the Moscow and St. Petersburg orphanages and their institutions in 1797, which came under the jurisdiction of her office. In 1854, the "Department of Institutions of Empress Maria" was established, which became part of the Office of His Imperial Majesty starting in 1880.

Tuition at the 1st gymnasium was paid, with preference given to girls from "good families," although there were quotas for free education. Alongside the gymnasiums of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna, there were women's gymnasiums under the Ministry of Public Education in the Russian Empire, accessible to all classes and faiths.

Graduates of the gymnasium received a certificate, a conduct certificate, and the right to work as private tutors. Among the students of the gymnasium were future famous actresses V. N. Pashennaya, A. G. Koonen, and O. V. Gzovskaya. In 1905 and 1917, composer S. V. Rachmaninoff lived and worked here, and a monument to him is installed nearby.

In addition to the gymnasium, the building housed residential apartments and a Museum of Visual Aids in Natural Science. After the revolution, the gymnasium was closed, and in the 1920s-1930s, it housed the Communist University of the Toiling East named after I. V. Stalin, where the famous Chinese political figure Deng Xiaoping studied.

Later, the building was transferred to the All-Union Radio Committee. Today, it houses the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications (Rospechat).