The estate of Staro-Nikolskoye, located on the left bank of the Desna River, was founded in 1660 by the boyar Fyodor Mikhailovich Rtishchev, a friend of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. He inherited the abolished estate of the ancient Nikolsky Monastery. Until the end of the 18th century (according to another version, until the 1830s), the estate belonged to the Rtishchev family, and then passed to the Musin-Pushkin family. From the late 19th century until the revolution, it, like many other noble estates, came into the possession of the merchant class. In the summer of 1928, the main house became the venue for the VI Congress of the Communist Party of China, which was an important event in the history of the PRC.

The architectural ensemble of Staro-Nikolskoye was formed in several stages. In the 1770s-1780s, a traditional noble estate complex was finally established here, featuring a stone main house and outbuildings. In the 1820s-1830s, the estate was rebuilt in the style of late Empire: the main house became two stories high with a basement and mezzanines, topped with a round belvedere with a flagpole. The Musin-Pushkin coat of arms was placed on the pediment, and statues were positioned in the niches of the columned portico. Between 1885 and 1891, the mansion was rebuilt again, increasing the volume of the columned loggia and bricking up the windows of the mezzanine floor on the southern facade. From 1893 to 1911, a northern portico was added and the southern one was rebuilt. Between 1935 and 1946, during the adaptation of the building for residential use, the belvedere was lost, the end loggias were raised, and the mezzanine floor was transformed into a full third floor. Internal changes included replacing the marble staircase with a reinforced concrete one and a complete re-planning. Historical interiors and volumetric-spatial composition were lost, and the original decorative finishes were preserved only partially.

In 2011, a fire occurred in the mansion, after which the building was in an emergency state. Comprehensive repair and restoration work carried out at the end of 2015 and in mid-2016 became a unique example of the rapid revival of an architectural monument. Restorers used data from field surveys, archival materials, and historical analogues. The two-story addition from the 1940s was dismantled, walls were reinforced, the plinth and brick vaults of the basement were restored, and lost arched and straight openings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries were recreated. Emergency sections of the ceilings were replaced, a brick vestibule, a roof covered with galvanized steel, and a belvedere with a viewing platform were recreated. The end terraces were restored with the restoration of plaster and white stone decor, columns, and metal railings. The facades were restored, including the plaster layer, decorative elements, and stucco. Windows with eight-part glazing and a marble staircase were recreated, and the floors were restored based on historical analogues.

In the restored building, work was carried out to adapt the estate for modern use. In 2016, the building received an award at the "Moscow Restoration" competition in two nominations: for the best organization of repair and restoration work and for scientific-methodological guidance and research work.