The apartment house on the corner of Starorusskaya and Novgorodskaya Streets was built in1913-1915 by architect Ivan Yakovlev. The owner of the house was a merchant of the first guild,a deputy of the City Duma Mikhail Polezhaev. The house has 7 floors with attics and 158 apartments.

The facades are richly decorated in the style of Art Nouveau: they have towers, bay windows,pilasters, bas-reliefs. The balconies of the house are supported by atlantes. The house was designed for wealthy residents: it had an elevator and wide front doors; all apartments were equipped with gas, electricity, hot and cold water supply.

After the revolution of 1917, the building became the property of the state, and most of the apartments became communal. Today there are both communal and private apartments here. The beauty of the Polezhaev house attracts artists and cinematographers. For example, the film adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" was filmed here.