This mansion in Moscow is one of the first built in the European style, with a beautiful facade along the street. It turned out to be significantly older than previously thought. When restoration work began 12 years ago, it was discovered that this is a well-preserved palace from the early 18th century. The property was formalized in 1694 and still retains almost unchanged boundaries, remaining one of the largest in the city center.

These were the "great chambers" of Peter I's associate, Count Peter Matveyevich Apraksin. He was the brother of Tsarina Marfa Matveyevna, the second wife of Tsar Feodor Alexeyevich. The palace was grand for its time and was built on the eve of the founding of St. Petersburg. After the capital was moved, such buildings became rare in Moscow. The long facade had an arch leading to the grand apartments on the second floor.

After the count's death, the estate passed to his son, Count Alexey Petrovich, and his wife, Elena Mikhailovna, the daughter of the jester Mikhail Golitsyn during Empress Anna Ioannovna's reign. Mikhail Alexeyevich became a jester for marrying an Italian and converting to Catholicism. In the last year of Anna Ioannovna's reign, she married him off to the Kalmyk Anna Buzheninova, which became the basis for Ivan Lazhechnikov's novel "The Ice House."

The earliest depiction of the palace is found in the coronation album of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna from 1742. In 1761, Count Fyodor Alexeyevich Apraksin sold the estate to Count Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov. A plan from 1767 shows what the estate looked like when acquired by the father of Catherine Romanovna Dashkova. In the center was a house with an arch leading to the courtyard, and on the sides, two wings. Vorontsov built a wooden theater hall here, which he rented out. In 1769, it was rented by Italians Belmonti and Chinti for masquerades and performances. After Chinti's death, Prince Urusov and the Englishman Michael Maddox continued the business. In 1776, they obtained the right to public performances and hired a theater in Vorontsov's house. Thus, the famous Znamenka Opera House was born. In 1780, the theater burned down during a performance, damaging the main house. This prompted Maddox to begin construction of the Grand Petrovsky Theater on Neglinnaya.

The restoration of the estate lasted from 1782 to 1783. Instead of the arch, a grand entrance was made. In 1792, the wings were dismantled. The renovated mansion was occupied by the Moscow English Club. In 1801, Emperor Paul I closed the club, and the owners sold the estate to T.A. Arsenyeva. In 1804, it passed to P.V. Musina-Pushkina. The estate survived the 1812 fire, but in December, the main house caught fire. In 1816, Colonel Nikolai Petrovich Rimsky-Korsakov bought the building and remodeled it in 1818. The house acquired its current appearance with an eight-column portico.

In 1825, the estate was purchased by Count Sergey Ivanovich Gagarin. His house was well-known in Moscow, where famous writers and public figures gathered. Leo Tolstoy depicted this house in his works. After Gagarin's death, the house passed to his daughter Maria Sergeyevna Buturlina. In 1902, the plot went to her son Sergey Sergeyevich Buturlin, who rented the house to the gymnasium of Elizabeth Alexandrovna Kirpichnikova. Boys and girls studied together there, which was unusual for that time.

After the revolution, it became a secondary school for the children of high-ranking officials. Since 1962, the building housed a school under the Gnesin State Musical-Pedagogical Institute. Since 2000, the houses have been in a semi-ruined state, awaiting repairs. On September 2, 2014, the school began classes in the restored building.