Dmitry Nikiforovich Kaygorodov was a specialist in forest technology, ornithology, an educator, and a popularizer of natural sciences, as well as an honorary professor at the St. Petersburg Forest Institute. He is referred to as the "father of Russian phenology," the science that studies seasonal changes in the development of plants and animals, the timing of these changes, and the reasons that determine them.

For nearly 50 years, he recorded his observations of nature daily. Since 1875, Kaygorodov taught at the Forest Institute, where he was provided with an official apartment. In the autumn of 1903, he received a plot of land near the Silver Pond for the construction of a house with the right of subsequent purchase. "My cherished dream has come true," the scientist wrote, "to settle in my own little house on my own land."

To build the house, Kaygorodov organized a family contract: his older brother Ivan Nikiforovich developed the overall plan of the mansion by spring 1904, the facades were designed by his son-in-law, military engineer Pyotr Petrovich Maresyev, and the interior finishing was done by the professor's son Anatoly. The two-story house was laid in June 1904 and completed in a year and a half. A garden with a small round pond, surrounded by pines and wild roses, was created around the house. The mansion was named "House by the Golden Pond" due to the yellow pine pollen falling on the water and the sunlight giving the water a golden hue.

After Kaygorodov's death on February 11, 1924, his family had to endure difficult times. In 1929, the heirs sold the house for 25,000 rubles, as they could not maintain it. In the 1930s, the mansion was used by the services of the Central Scientific Research Institute of Forestry. During the reconstruction of the Golden Pond area, the pond was filled in, and by the early 1970s, a children's playground appeared in its place.

In 1999-2000, architect Vasily Nikiforovich Pitanin carried out a reconstruction of the building, restoring elements of the facades and interiors, including stoves and fireplaces. The arrangement of the attic was done delicately, almost not changing the appearance of the monument. The building is now in excellent condition and houses the Department of Forestry for the Northwestern Federal District.