One of the unique buildings in Balakhna is the city estate on Karl Marx Street, previously known as Naberezhnaya. It was built in the 1870s-80s by merchant and shipbuilder Alexander Alexandrovich Khudyakov. The estate includes the main two-story residential house, a one-story stone wing, stone gates, a wooden stable, and a garden that now resembles an overgrown park. The history of this estate is remarkable, reflecting events from the last one and a half centuries. Alexander Alexandrovich Khudyakov was born on August 17, 1845, into the family of Balakhna merchants Alexander Ivanovich and Lyubov Ivanovna in the parish of the Resurrection Church. Their house was located on the shore of a small Babye Lake, at the confluence of the Netekha River into the Volga, which was convenient for the shipbuilding trade that many Balakhna residents engaged in. Volga trade brought good profits to the locals. Successful merchants moved to Nizhny Novgorod, but the most foresighted maintained ties with Balakhna, having homes and shipyards in both cities. Little is known about the activities of Alexander Khudyakov, the elder.

Documents report that in 1883, two steamships likely loaded with cargo docked at his pier in Balakhna daily. At this time, Alexander, the younger, was already a merchant of the second guild and a member of the Balakhna City Duma. From 1894 to 1898, he served as the mayor. In 1893, a tragedy struck the Khudyakov family: their only son Alexei died at the age of five. This likely prompted the family to move from Balakhna, associated with sad memories. In the early 20th century, A.A. Khudyakov and his wife moved to Nizhny Novgorod to a mansion on Malaya Pokrovskaya Street. In Balakhna, their house was occupied by elderly people, mostly of spiritual rank, and the mansion became a charitable institution. The central hall on the second floor, which offered a view of the Volga landscape, became a prayer hall. Locals recalled how numerous icons filled the left wall of the hall. The first months of the October Revolution passed peacefully in Balakhna, but in 1918, the nationalization of buildings left by merchants began. Khudyakov's mansion was one of the first to undergo this fate, and it housed the district extraordinary committee. After the collapse of the USSR, rumors about executions in the estate's park emerged.

Two years later, the history of the mansion continued as a charitable establishment. In 1920-1921, a children's home for orphans taken under the care of the Soviet state opened here. In the early 1930s, the house was transformed into a kindergarten, which operated until 2001, when the mansion was handed over to the Balakhna Local History Museum. Museum workers had long dreamed of this house, which is itself a unique 'exhibit.' However, as architect O.E. Sundieva noted, the estate required 'immediate restoration.' The log walls of the second floor, metal roof and cornice, ceilings, and oak staircase had significant damage. Nevertheless, specialists noted that the overall condition of the building 'corresponds to the richly decorated facades and is in satisfactory condition.' Museum staff began developing plans for the museification of this historical monument. An important place in the museum will be occupied by an exhibition dedicated to Balakhna shipbuilding, to which A.A. Khudyakov devoted much effort. The modern exhibition will include authentic exhibits, photographs and documents, antique carpentry tools, models of barges and steamships. All this will be combined into a multimedia installation. The convenient location of the estate on the banks of the Volga will add extra charm to the exhibition. The introduction of the estate into the museum and tourist circuit will enhance the value of the embankment quarter as a cultural center. The enfilades of rooms on the second floor with stucco ceilings, parquet floors, Dutch stoves, and a fireplace create a unique base for exhibitions reflecting the life of the merchant class at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The stable and the estate park with centuries-old linden trees that remember Khudyakov will also not go unnoticed. This is the only preserved stable from the late 19th century in Balakhna. Restoration work needs to be carried out not only on the main house but also on the entire estate complex. A.A. Khudyakov's estate is a multifunctional object. The goal of the museification project is to show the multifaceted nature of its history, include the industrial component, and break the stereotype of the estate as merely a residential and park object. It is hoped that the revived estate will become a bright star among the Volga estates, standing out for its uniqueness.