The Osorgin House at 18 Tchaikovsky Street has officially been added to the list of designated cultural heritage sites in St. Petersburg.

The building has a rich history, dating back to the early 19th century. In the 1840s, the building housed apartments for the Count Khvostov family, among whose tenants was Mikhail Lermontov's grandmother. It is believed that it was here that the poet worked on his famous novel, "A Hero of Our Time."

The building acquired its current eclectic appearance with baroque elements in 1876-1877 after a reconstruction designed by architecture academic Ivan Shaposhnikov. The architect, who designed the Great Choral Synagogue, not only rebuilt the house but also moved in. It was here, in 1879, that his daughter Elena was born, a future outstanding figure and the wife of the artist Nicholas Roerich.