In the 1770s, Amos Prokofievich Demidov, son of the owner of the Ural metallurgical plants Prokofy Akifievich Demidov, acquired an urban estate on Tolmachevsky Lane. At his direction, a residential house was built, completing the perspective of Lavrushinsky Lane. A large ceremonial courtyard was laid out in front of the mansion. The decor of the house was strict and concise, limited to the rustication of the basement floor, ornate window surrounds, and a small central attic.

In 1805, when the estate was owned by the Zagryazhsky nobles, a new ceremonial facade with a four-column portico appeared. One-story wings were built on either side of the mansion, enclosing the ceremonial courtyard. In 1812, the main house of the estate was severely damaged by fire. Two years after Napoleon was expelled from Moscow, it was reconstructed, acquiring a ceremonial facade that has been preserved to this day. The other facades remained unchanged, and the basement floor retained its classicist rustication treatment.

In the mid-19th century, when the estate passed to the Kozlin merchants, the wings were raised. In the second half of the 19th century, when Countess Maria Fedorovna Sollogub became the mistress of the house, a literary salon began to gather here. The house was visited by notable figures such as I.S. Aksakov, Yu.F. Samarin, I.S. Turgenev, A.S. Khomyakov, and others.

In 1882, the estate was acquired by the Moscow Educational District for the placement of the 6th Men's Gymnasium, which operated here until the 1917 revolution. The building was re-planned for the needs of the gymnasium. Among the students of the 6th gymnasium was Vanya Shmelev, a future famous Russian writer of the 20th century.

In 1942, the former Demidov house was transferred to the State Library for Public Education named after K.D. Ushinsky. The pedagogical library occupies the estate to this day. During the Soviet era, the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the RSFSR financed the restoration of the estate.

Currently, the house is in good condition. To see the decorations of the ceremonial facade, one must enter the courtyard. The arcature of the lower rusticated floor supports the protruding six-column portico of the Corinthian order. The central part of the facade is adorned with five round relief medallions of allegorical content. The outer windows of the second floor are decorated with paired Corinthian pilasters, arched niches, and small pediments with sculptural inserts. However, the main decoration of the estate is the exquisite cast-iron fence, a masterpiece of casting art from the 18th century. This unique fence, which has always inspired admiration among Muscovites, was cast by master A.T. Sizov at one of the Demidov Ural plants in the 1760s according to the drawings of architect F.S. Argunov.