In the 1780s, Russian Empress Catherine II began allocating land along the Neva River between the Lebyazhiy Canal and the service wing of the Marble Palace to prominent courtiers. The first plot (right next to the Summer Garden) was given to Betsky. In 1784, the next plot between the Palace Embankment and Tsaritsyn Meadow was allocated to State Secretary Pyotr Soymonov; however, the nobleman declined to develop the assigned land—apparently, the gift came with the obligation for the owner to build on it within five years, failing which the plot would revert to the treasury. The next owner of the land was merchant F. I. Groten, for whom a mansion was built according to a design by Giacomo Quarenghi, the exterior of which has survived to the present day with minor alterations. While designing the house, Quarenghi faced an important planning challenge—he had to decide which side the main façade of the building should face. The Italian architect decided to orient the building northward, toward the Palace Embankment, since the other sides were unsuitable for a formal façade: to the south, Groten’s plot faced the undeveloped Tsaritsyn Meadow and the gates of Betsky’s house, and to the west (from the current Suvorov Square side) was the border of Vorontsov’s estate, who later disposed of his land in this area. The building faced Tsaritsyn Meadow with two floors and the Neva with three, and it was fenced off from both the river and the meadow. To the west of the mansion, a garden was laid out, extending to the service wing of the Marble Palace. The western façade was “blind”—it had no windows because it was assumed that another building would be constructed right next to it.

In July 1790, prominent St. Petersburg citizen Sivers purchased the mansion from Groten for 30,000 rubles—a sum evidently exceeding the cost of construction and furnishing. In March 1793, Sivers made a very profitable deal, selling the house for 82,875 rubles to Princess Ekaterina Petrovna Baryatinskaya (née Princess Holstein-Beck). Together with her husband, Prince Ivan Sergeyevich Baryatinsky, a prominent Russian diplomat and statesman of the Catherine era, the family was among the most noble in the capital. Three years later, in 1796, the princess began renting out apartments in the house. Despite the advertisement published on February 1 in the "Saint Petersburg Gazette" ("The house of Princess Ekaterina Petrovna Baryatinskaya near the Summer Garden is offered for rent..."), rental housing in the mansion was unpopular among potential tenants due to a citywide legend that the mansion was haunted by the ghost of Peter I and a young lady, with the emperor scolding her in no uncertain terms. The advertisement was noticed at court, and two days later the mansion was repurchased by the treasury and gifted to the prominent Russian statesman and field marshal Nikolai Ivanovich Saltykov for his merits in raising Catherine II’s beloved grandson, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich.

Head of the Military Collegium, Nikolai Saltykov, had a somewhat ambiguous reputation. Some considered him the ideal courtier, while others saw him merely as a clever favorite. It was to his care that Catherine entrusted the heir to the throne, Pavel, for ten years, and later the grand dukes Alexander and Konstantin. The house on the Palace Embankment served as a material token of gratitude for raising Alexander. From 1812 to 1816, Saltykov held the posts of Chairman of the State Council and Committee of Ministers. Historians note that it was in his house that the meeting took place where Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian army in 1812. Between 1818 and 1823, a grand staircase and a house church were installed in the house; the reconstruction was also connected with the creation of Suvorov Square according to Carlo Rossi’s design: it was then that the previously blind western wall received architectural treatment.

Alexander Suvorov was a frequent guest. In the summer of 1812, in this house, in the office of the president of the Military Collegium, Field Marshal Saltykov, Kutuzov was chosen as commander-in-chief of the Russian army.

Originally, the building had three floors on the Neva side and two on the side of Mars Field. Since it was assumed during construction that another building would eventually be built right next to it on the Marble Palace side, the western façade had no windows and faced a garden occupying the entire space up to the service wing of the Marble Palace, separated from Tsaritsyn Meadow and the Neva bank by a fence. But in 1818, according to Rossi’s project, Suvorov Square was created on the site of the garden, and the façade facing it was remodeled. Between 1818 and 1823, the mansion’s grand staircase and vestibule were rebuilt.

On September 10, 1797, Archpriest Pavel Ozereckovsky consecrated the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in the house. In April 1818, the church was moved to another location due to the building’s reconstruction. After the work was completed, the church was returned to the mansion and reconsecrated on April 8, 1823. The church was closed in 1828.

Many interiors of the mansion have survived to this day: the vestibule, the grand staircase, the White Hall. On the Suvorov Square side, the building was adjoined by a porch. Throughout the 19th century, Saltykov’s descendants repeatedly attempted to remodel the house. For example, in 1843–1844, the mansion was altered by Bosse. Among the interiors affected was the White Hall. In 1881, architect Lorentzen expanded the wing along Millionnaya Street.

Saltykov’s descendants held ownership rights to the house until 1917, but they did not live there and rented it out. For 90 years, foreign embassies were housed in the building. From 1829 to 1855, the Austrian embassy was located there, headed by Count Ficquelmont. From 1855, the third and fourth floors were occupied by Baron Otto Plessen, the Danish ambassador. From 1863 to 1918, the British embassy rented the building. After embassies moved to Moscow, the building was used as a warehouse for confiscated furniture and works of art.

After the October Revolution, the building housed the Institute of Extracurricular Education, and from 1925, the Communist Political and Educational Institute named after Krupskaya opened there (later the Leningrad Library Institute, now the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Culture and Arts). It is connected by internal passages to the neighboring Betsky house, which has also belonged to the Institute of Culture since the 1960s.

Between 1818 and 1828, the house had a house church. Many interiors of the mansion have survived to this day: the vestibule, the grand staircase, the White Hall. On the Suvorov Square side, the building was adjoined by a porch. Throughout the 19th century, Saltykov’s descendants repeatedly attempted to remodel the house. For example, in 1843–1844, the mansion was altered by Bosse. Among the interiors affected was the White Hall. In 1881, architect Lorentzen expanded the wing along Millionnaya Street.

Nearby the house, two memorial plaques have been installed. The first was placed in 1970–1971 in memory of the employees of the Academy of Culture who died in the Great Patriotic War. The second, dating from the 1760s, was an inscription “1767” carved on a granite block of the Palace Embankment facing.

During the war years, the building housed a hospital.

Sources:

https://www.citywalls.ru/house1923.html

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Дом_Салтыкова