Once on the site of Muruzi's house there was a wooden mansion with a garden and white columns. It belonged to Nikolay Rezanov, the navigator, diplomat, entrepreneur and the first official Russian ambassador to Japan. After his death, the house passed from owner to owner until it was bought by Alexander Muruzi, a descendant of the Byzantine princely family.

Designed by architect Serebryakov, a new building in the Moorish style was erected in 1874-1877. It was this building that made the architect famous. After Muruzi's death, the apartment house was sold, its owner became Lieutenant General Rein, who owned it until the October Revolution in 1917.

In the XX century, Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Zinaida Gippius lived in the Muruzi house. Literary evenings were held in their salon, with Blok, Bely, Rozanov, Bryusov among frequent visitors.

The poet Vladimir Piast was a neighbor of the Merezhkovskys. In the 1920s, in one of the rooms of the house, Korney Chukovsky organized a studio for young literal translators.

At the same time, Nikolai Gumilev organized his studio here. After the war, Joseph Brodsky and Daniil Granin lived in this house at different times.