The building was designed by architect Nikolay Proskurnin and constructed in 1899-1902 for Insurance Company Rossiya. In the early 20th century it was one of the most technically advanced and comfortable apartment buildings in Moscow. Moreover, prominent French architect Le Corbusier described it as Moscow’s most beautiful building of that time.
After the 1917 socialist revolution, the building’s occupants were the Russian Telegraph Agency, Red Army’s Main Artillery Department, Commissariat for Education, and editorial office of newspaper Gudok, where famous writer Mikhail Bulgakov worked for several years.
A section of the upper floor has been rented by ESA for its Permanent Mission in Russia since its foundation.