Gabriel Vlassievich Nikitin, a graduate of the Imperial Academy of Arts, was born in the village of Barsukovskaya in Kuban. In 1900, he began his career as an architect in Transbaikalia, working at the Nerchinsk penal labor camp. In the following years, Nikitin worked in Chita, where he designed and built many buildings, including the Khlunovsky house, the Trading House on Bazar Square, the Daurian Courtyard, the first women's gymnasium, a teacher's seminary, the regional government building, and a Jewish synagogue.

Despite his outstanding artistic abilities and rich imagination, Nikitin lacked engineering education, which sometimes led to problems in his projects, such as the collapse of structures in the Khlunovsky house and city shops. These incidents caused disagreements with the city administration, and in 1903 he left his position as city architect, transitioning to teaching drawing, drafting, and penmanship at the teacher's seminary. In 1906, Nikitin left Transbaikalia and moved to Yekaterinodar, now Krasnodar.

Around 1904, Nikitin built a house on Kastrinskaya Street for his own residence. After his departure, the building was acquired by doctor A. Davydov, and later by construction contractor L.A. Ravve, who organized a soap factory there in 1917. In 1918, the house was occupied by ataman Semyonov. Later, the building housed the A.S. Pushkin Regional Library, a children's library, and the Chita Polytechnic Institute. In 1991, the mansion was sold to the design institute 'Chitaarchstroyproject', which carried out its restoration at its own expense. To this day, 'Chitaarchstroyproject' remains the owner of the house.