The territory where the estate complex is located was once part of the Small Ostrog, a fortification of medieval Nizhny Novgorod. It is believed that the chain of wooden-earth fortifications of the ostrog began to be built in the 60s of the 14th century. According to some sources, one of the wooden towers stood on the site of the estate, with two steep descents leading to its gates from the Volga riverbank. On the other side, the tower adjoined Yegoryevskaya Street, which ran along the fortifications at an angle from the Proiskhozhdenchesky Monastery, located near the monument to V.P. Chkalov.

The wooden fortifications of the Small Ostrog were dismantled by the early 18th century, but the earthen rampart remained. For a long time, this area remained the outskirts of the city. The high Volga bank, cut by ravines, was inconvenient for construction. The plans for Nizhny Novgorod during the classicism period of the late 18th and early 19th centuries did not touch this area. Until the 1830s, the slope and banks were used for gardens, baths, and service buildings of estates on Zhukovskaya Street.

On the 1792 plan, a small wooden construction was marked along the medieval rampart, while most of the land remained undeveloped. To the east, the plot was adjacent to a yard with a garden belonging to clerk Ivan Zhitenin. Behind the rampart was a stone-wooden house with a garden belonging to second-major Fyodor Bukhvalov.

According to the 1799 plan, the modern complex was located at the estate, with buildings situated at the corner of Malaya Pechorskaya Street and the forming Zhukovskaya Street. The estate's exit to the Volga slope was empty. The red line of the future Upper Volga embankment was defined in the 1830s as part of a large-scale construction program.

The first visit of Emperor Nicholas I to Nizhny Novgorod in October 1834 initiated the project. The embankment project, executed by provincial architect I.E. Yefimov and engineer P.D. Gotman, was approved in 1835. The works were supervised by engineer A.I. Podnozov. By the autumn of 1839, the embankment was leveled and paved with cobblestones.

Stone construction on the embankment began in the 1840s but progressed slowly due to the disadvantage of erecting stone buildings on the outskirts of the city. By the mid-century, the buildings of the Martynov Hospital and the Mariinsky Institute for Noble Maidens were constructed, as well as several private houses, including the house of Nizhny Novgorod merchant of the third guild Serapion Vezlomtsev, which occupied part of the future ensemble of the Rukavishnikov estate.

The main house of the Vezlomtsev estate was built in the late classicism style. In 1868, the estate was acquired by first-guild merchant Mikhail Grigoryevich Rukavishnikov. According to the descriptive book of 1871, the stone two-story house with outbuildings was valued at 4,000 rubles.

In 1874, M.G. Rukavishnikov died, and the inheritance process dragged on until the end of 1875. In 1786, the owner of the estate became Sergey Mikhailovich Rukavishnikov, and in the 1890s, Ivan, Sergey, Mitrofan, Nikolai, and Yevgenia Ivanovna Rukavishnikovs. In June 1891, S.M. Rukavishnikov became the sole owner again, remaining the owner until his death in 1914. It is only known that in 1906, a new water supply was installed in the building. The appearance of the estate at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was captured by photographer M.P. Dmitriev, whose photos formed the basis for view postcards.

During the Soviet period, the complex was expropriated. From March to June 1918, the provincial museum was located in the main building. In 1919, the sons of the former owner, Ivan and Mitrofan Rukavishnikov, who participated in organizing the museum, were evicted from the estate. In the 1920s, repair work was carried out inside the premises. In 1927, reconstruction was conducted for the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution.

In 1935, new repair and restoration works began, which continued even after the war. In the 1980s, sculptural and architectural elements of the facades and interiors of the building were restored annually. The gates leading to the territory were recreated. By the decision of the Gorky Oblast Executive Committee on November 3, 1983, the complex was placed under protection as a monument of regional significance. At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, funding for restoration work ceased, and the monument fell into disrepair. Large-scale restoration was carried out in 1997 and 2010.