At the beginning of the 20th century, on the site of the modern cinema "Rodina," there was the estate of one of the wealthiest residents of the city, N.D. Matveev. A small two-story house with a symmetrical facade and three windows on each floor adjoined the estate from the west. Here was located the commercial enterprise "Three Hills Partnership." It is not exactly known what this society did, but it is known that on the first floor there was a store selling electrical and sporting goods, including bicycles.

In 1908, N.D. Matveev began constructing a large three-story building, which he planned to use as a rental property. It adjoined the "Three Hills Partnership" house and had 13 windows on each of the two upper floors. The facade of the building was adorned with risalits, above the eastern one rose a dome with a multi-pitched roof and spire, while above the western one, a dome in the shape of a horizontal prism. In the lower right corner of the facade was an arch with ornate metal gates leading to the courtyard. The rest of the facade was symmetrical. This building was the largest in the block and looked impressive, as can be seen in old photographs.

The first floor of the building housed shops, while the upper floors were rented by the United Bank. After 1917, the building housed a branch of the Tambov proletkult. However, the building did not last long; it was destroyed by fire in the late 1920s. For the next ten years, the territory of the former Matveev estate was fenced off and overgrown with weeds. In the second half of the 1930s, as part of the reconstruction of Lenin Square, it was decided to build the largest cinema in the region on this site.