The small urban estate house is located in the Arbat area, with its main facade facing Trubnikovsky Lane. The first detailed plans of the property date back to the late 18th century when it was part of a large estate owned by the titular councilor V. P. Tolstoy and was built with wooden structures. These buildings were destroyed in the fire of 1812, and until the late 1830s, there was a garden on this site, after which small service buildings began to appear.

In the 1850s, the territory was divided into two parts, and the property where building 1 is now located acquired its modern configuration and area. The estate initially belonged to physician A. K. Grell, then to the wife of staff captain M. P. Arsenyeva, and later to the wife of collegiate councilor V. F. Dobrova.

In 1876, civil engineer Alexander Alekseevich Nikiforov, one of the founders of the Moscow Architectural Society, developed a project for a new two-story stone estate house in eclectic style with elements of "Byzantine" architecture. The facade of the house has remained virtually unchanged from the architect's original design. Elements lost during the Soviet era, such as door openings, a first-floor window, and a decorative crest on the roof, were restored during recent restoration work.

The facade of the house features a three-part symmetrical composition consisting of two side risalits and a central part. On the second floor of the risalits are semi-circular floor-to-ceiling windows framed by decorative rusticated frames in a pointed shape with a keystone, leading to balconies with wrought-iron railings. The entrance groups are located on the first floor. The walls of the first tier are treated "under a fur coat," while the second tier has a light rectangular rustication. The composition of the risalits is completed by a frieze and cornice, and above the northern risalit, there are mezzanines in the form of a rectangular attic. The central part of the facade is designed as an arcade, uniting the two floors, with profiled pilasters and pointed arches. The capitals of the pilasters, the inter-floor cornice, and the friezes of the risalits are adorned with a series of dentils. The walls are decorated with panels, rosettes, window casings on the second floor, and beads. The central part is finished with a parapet, and a decorative crest runs along the edge of the roof. The side and courtyard facades have more modest decor. The internal layout of the house, with a long corridor and rows of rooms on both sides, resembles the tenement houses popular at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

Later, the estate began to combine residential and income-generating functions. The main house was occupied by the owners, while two other houses built in the 1880s-1890s were rented out for housing. A large garden with a gazebo and fountain was laid out in the courtyard, leading to the terrace of the main house.

In the early 1900s, the estate was owned by the honorary citizens, the Ushakov spouses. Alexander Sergeyevich Ushakov was a multifaceted personality: he was involved in law, book trade, usury, and the purchase of promissory notes. He also wrote under the pseudonym N. Skavronsky notes about Moscow ("Essays on Moscow," 1862-1863). It is known that he was the plaintiff in the case of the abbess Mitrophania, who was unjustly accused of fraud with promissory notes, the proceeds of which went to the construction of churches and charitable institutions.

In the early 20th century, the property briefly belonged to Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

In 1915, the estate's buildings were threatened with demolition, and a multi-story apartment building was planned to be built in its place according to the project of architect K. A. Dulin, but this project was not realized.

During the Soviet era, the main house, like all the buildings on the estate's territory, was converted into apartments, which affected the interiors: they were significantly altered, including due to new partitions. However, some interior elements have been preserved, such as the grand staircase with a wrought-iron railing, panel doors, and profiled cornices in some rooms.