The Yusupov family entered Russian history thanks to Prince Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupovo-Knyazhevo. His wife, Tatyana Fedorovna Korkodinova, is said to have given birth to only one son. Grigory Dmitrievich, a young and ambitious nobleman, was born in 1676 and died in 1730. He began his career under Peter the Great, built the fleet, participated in the Azov campaigns and battles near Narva, Poltava, and Vyborg, and took part in all of Peter's reforms.

Peter the Great appreciated the valor and loyalty of Grigory Yusupov, granting him new rich estates, including the sloboda of Rakitnoye. In 1652, Yakovlev and Markov built a fortress on the right bank of the Rakita River.

The Rakitnaya lands belonged to the Yusupov family for 188 years, from 1729 to 1917. The sloboda Rakitnaya was the center of the management of Prince Yusupov's estates in the Kursk, Voronezh, Kharkov, and Poltava provinces. Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, a prominent nobleman of four reigns, owned estates in 15 provinces and sought to secure them for himself. From his marriage to Tatyana Vasilievna Engelhardt, only one son, Boris Nikolayevich, reached adulthood, under whom the estate in Rakitnoye further developed.

Nikolai Borisovich was born in 1751, received an excellent education, and continued it at Leiden University. He met Voltaire, who praised him to Catherine the Great. Nikolai Borisovich was considered a good manager and oversaw several enterprises in Russia, including the estate in Rakitnoye.

Under Alexander I, Nikolai Borisovich found himself out of favor and decided to conduct an audit of his estates, discovering that the management was neglected.

During Boris Nikolayevich Yusupov's time, a two-story palace was built in the center of the sloboda Rakitnoye. The project was handled by talented architects, including Giacomo Florenti. The palace was constructed over six years by the serfs of the prince.

The palace was divided into two parts: one for the princes and the other for the estate manager, Aron von Menden. One of the halls housed a large library, of which only a few books remain in the local museum. Next to the palace were outbuildings, a garden, a zoo, and a flowerbed.

The estate's park, a monument of garden and park art from the mid-19th century, is connected to the palace by an alley. The main trees in the park are linden, maple, oak, willow, poplar, and pear. About 240 trees have survived, with some oaks over 300 years old.

The park features three cascading ponds, with water naturally purified. The second pond was the deepest. The park has survived but has become overgrown with young forest. On the estate's grounds is a long-lived oak planted by the Yusupovs.

The last owner of the estate was Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova. Under her, the estate thrived, consisting of 14 farms. Sugar beets, grains were grown, and mills, factories, and plants operated here.

Felix Yusupov recalled the Rakitnoye estate. In 1917, after Rasputin's murder, he was ordered to go there. In March 1917, he was released and returned to Petersburg. In his memoirs, he wrote about the prayer before his departure.

The prince felt he would not return to the estate. The world of the Russian estate was collapsing. The Yusupov family left Russia in April 1919 aboard the English ship 'Malboro.' In his memoirs, Felix Yusupov wrote about the hardships of exile.

After the October Revolution, the Yusupovs' wealth fell to the Bolsheviks. Their income amounted to 1,258,000 rubles, 17 large estates, including Arkhangelsk, and 8 income-generating houses. The Yusupov family faded away, and their descendants live in Greece.

The Yusupov estate was nationalized. It now houses a boarding school for children from the Belgorod region. In 1994, a museum of the Yusupov princes opened in one of the rooms of the former palace, where lessons and excursions are held.