This house in Chinese style was built for the tea merchant Sergei Vasilievich Perlov who left the family tea trade company in order to establish his own business. He bought the land on Myasnitskaya Street in the center of Moscow in 1875, and began to build the new house on it in 1891. The construction was finished by 1893. The first floor was for Perlov’s tea shop, and other two floors were used for profitable apartments and the host’s own habitation.
The front side of newly built house was redecorated in the Chinese style in some years. Little tower in form of pagoda appeared and front side was decorated with molded dragons, snakes, Chinese umbrellas and lanterns. Some materials were even brought directly from China. It was made before the visit of the Chinese Ambassador Li Hongzhang, who should visit Moscow for Nikolai II and Alexandra Fyodorovna coronation. Perlov thought that it might be useful for his business but the Ambassador stopped at Perlov’s brother’s and competitor’s house. But thanks to this case now we have a beautiful exotic building right in the city center, as if it came right from another part of the world.
