One of the pre-revolutionary architectural monuments in Rostov-on-Don is the trading house of merchant Pustovoitov, built in 1910. The customer and owner of this building was the well-known philanthropist and shipowner Grigory Gavrilovich Pustovoitov. The house is located in the city center at 46 Bolshaya Sadovaya Street and was once one of the tallest buildings in Rostov.

The project of the trading house was developed by the famous Rostov architect Yevgeny Mikhailovich Guliyev, who had previously completed the construction of the trading house of the Yablokov merchants. The architecture of the Pustovoitov house is based on the principles of rational modernism, known as the 'department store style' or 'industrial-trading style,' which originated in Germany in 1897. A new frame-wall system was used in construction, which is reflected in the plasticity of the facades, united in a rhythmic composition with vertical divisions. The Pustovoitov trading house is often compared to the houses of Kuznetsovs in Moscow and Mertens in St. Petersburg, indicating the influence of metropolitan architecture and creative borrowing. The architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries served as a measure of 'metropolitan' status and diversity in Rostov.

After the completion of the Pustovoitov house, like many income-generating houses of that time, the premises were rented out. The building housed the Rostov branch of the Russian-French factories 'Provodnik,' the jewelry and watch shop of Girshtain, and the hotels 'Tsentralnaya' and 'London.' This continued until the arrival of Soviet power in 1920, when the building was looted and confiscated.

In the 1920s, the former income house housed the Southeast State Wool Association. In 1930, the fourth floor housed the scientific library of the V.M. Molotov RGU and the university administration. The library's collection included Russian magazines from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as unique copies from the 16th century. Most of the books were confiscated from private owners, and many were lost due to improper handling. A complete list of the library's holdings is provided in the 'Reference Guide to the Library' of 1941 edited by Fatilevich. In 1942, a Soviet bomb destroyed the roof and rotunda of the building. As a result of the fire caused by the bombing, the upper floors of the Pustovoitov house burned down, destroying the entire library collection. It was only in 1965 that the building was repaired.