The Demidov family became famous and became rich during the time of Peter the Great, when the Tula blacksmith Nikita Demidov went to the Urals to develop ferrous metallurgy. He forged the capital that was enough for all his descendants to live in luxury and indulge in their quirks.

The St. Petersburg estate on Moika was built in 1755-1759 by the great-grandson of the first industrialist, creating it in a classical style, with then fashionable baroque elements: ionic columns with quadrilateral capitals and bas-reliefs with female and male faces. There is a legend that they were made with members of the Demidov family.

And the main attraction of this building is the huge cast-iron grill of the veranda, which advertises the family business, with cast iron stairs, symmetrically curved and placed on both sides of the facade . Only Demidov could afford such a use of such valuable material in those years. The first architect of the building, as evidenced by the sign on the house, Savva Ivanovich Chevakinsky implemented his project in the middle of the XVIII century.

Time ordered that the luxurious facade was in the courtyard, hidden by a garden and later buildings, and for many years the building belonged to the design bureau that designed nuclear icebreakers.

The mansion offers tours from time to time.