This house is one of two residential buildings built at the end of the 19th century by architect A. Meyengard. The building is a classic example of eclectic architectural style. Initially, the owner of the house was Officer P. Nikitin, and later its owner was a wealthy railway engineer R. Sablin.

Since 1901, Fedor Chaliapin, a well-known opera singer at that time, who performed at the Imperial [theaters], lived here for three years (http://kudago.com/msk/theater/). Shortly after the Chaliapin family moved into this house, its owner was merchant A. Katyk, the owner of one of the world's largest cartridge case factories. Interestingly, the contract concluded by the singer with the new homeowner stated that Chaliapin did not have the right to keep a bird in the yard of the house and chop firewood in the living quarters. In the same years, composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, a friend of Fedor Ivanovich, lived here.

The apartment house of Sablin, and later Katyk, was the last place where Anton Chekhov lived in Moscow. In 1904, he spent several weeks here before leaving for Germany, where he died. Anton Pavlovich was often visited by V. Gilyarovsky and N. Teleshov said.