Judging by the surviving historical documents, at the end of the 18th century, a stone building was erected on Vasilyevsky Island, at the intersection of Kosaya and Kozhevennaya lines, facing the coastal the side. Later, the tanneries of St. Petersburg were transferred to this place, and a certain Mrs. Fischer, the widow of a European merchant, was appointed to manage them. Half a century later, the company and the building were purchased together with it by merchant Nikolai Brusnitsyn. Under his strict guidance and according to the project of architect Alexander Andreev, the mansion was radically rebuilt, expanded, additional rooms and upper floors were completed.

At the end of the 19th century, the estate was inherited by the sons of Nikolai Brusnitsyn, who also made adjustments to its architecture: the ceilings became higher, a winter garden was built and changed interior decoration. From a bird's eye view, the mansion began to resemble the correct letter “sh”: three separate wings for each of the three brothers. As for architecture, the Brusnitsyn Mansion is one of the most striking examples of eclecticism — a kind of collage of architectural trends from different eras and peoples: Neo-Byzantine, Neo-Russian, Neo-Gothic , Indo - Saracen, Neo - Moorish and Neo - Renaissance.

To give their home a respectable and fashionable foreign look, the owners of the largest tannery in North Palmyra clearly did not regret money. However, it is still strange that the Brusnitsyns chose to equip their luxurious home in the immediate vicinity of their own tanneries and therefore had to “enjoy” smells that they constantly emanated. On the other hand, for Russia in the 17th—19th centuries, this was quite normal practice — rich people often settled on the outskirts of cities, not far from their enterprises, in order to be able to constantly control production.

Today, the Brusnitsyn Mansion is better known not as the home of successful Russian entrepreneurs, but as a place where, at the beginning of the 20th century, a magical mirror was kept, which, according to urban legends, once belonged to the bloodsucker Count Dracula and was a real curse for anyone who dared to look at it.

Currently, the mansion is closed for commercial tours and can be accessed during walks with the “Open City”.