Spiridonovka is a cozy street in the Presnensky district, Moscow, stretching 480 meters. Until the early 19th century, the street was inhabited mainly by artisans, but after the 1812 fire, which destroyed the wooden buildings, social classes of the residents became more diverse: next to small shops, taverns, workrooms and one of the first Moscow photo studio, noble estates were erected, which were replaced in the second half of the 19th century with luxurious houses of wealthy entrepreneurs.

One of the most outstanding examples of such development is the harmonious beige two-story mansion with number 11. The site dates back to the early 18th century, when the property belonged to I. P. Prasolov, a Uniform Office clerk.

The area, like most of the buildings on Spiridonovka Street, was destroyed by the 1812 fire; so, by 1816, Countess V. S. Vasilchikova, had her serfs build her a new “wooden building on a stone foundation with a mezzanine” in the “burnt place”. The house was a typical example of an Empire style city estate of the post-fire period boasting an enclosed “cornice, with friezes, medallions, brackets...”.

Over the next few decades, one-story wooden sheds were erected on the site, and the main house was refinished along the façade.

In 1899, the property was acquired by the state councilor, the famous Moscow otolaryngologist Agapit Fyodorovich Belyaev, and by 1904, an Art Nouveau residential two-story building with a basement designed by the architect Ivan Boni was erected. The first floor hosted a consultation room and a medical office, and the clinic itself was often visited by prominent singers and actors, including Feodor Chaliapin, Leonid Sobinov and David Yuzhin. The owner lived with his family in spacious five rooms on the second floor.

Asymmetry in the composition of Belyaev’s house is created by the staircase leading to the garden and the massive open terrace on the left side of the building. The mansion is decorated with facing tiles characteristic of Art Nouveau, but lacks other decorative elements of this style: maiolica inserts and mosaics.

Until 1917, the main house of the estate was rented out, and after the revolution, all the rooms were turned into communal apartments. In the 1930s-1940s, the famous conductor A. I. Orlov rented an apartment there.

In November 1945, the building was transferred to Byurobin (now GlavUpDK under the MFA of Russia), and it has been used by the diplomatic corps since then.