Bolshaya Konyushennaya Ulitsa was built in the 1730s. The name, meaning "the Major Horse Stable Street" refers to the Imperial Horse Stables located on the bank of the Moika with a meadow behind them. The meadow was later turned into Konyushennaya Ploschad (the Horse Stable Square). In the 1730s it was here that the estate of staff physician H. Paulsen, father of architect G. Paulsen, was built. A large entrance court lay between the river and the building, and behind the house (where building 11 stands today) a vegetable patch and a garden were arranged.
The street got its official name, Bolshaya Konyushennaya Ulitsa, in 1737. In the 1770s this piece of land was owned by architect Y. M. Felten,
who replaced the wooden building with a three-storied stone mansion. As before, the building had a large court of honor open to the Moika,
with annexes to the main building on both sides defining its bounds.
Estate buildings were not convenient for the Capella, and with time they got quite dilapidated. Therefore, in the early 1880s a decision was made
to reconstruct these buildings. At that time the post of the Capella's director was occupied by Count S. D. Sheremetyev. In 1887-1889 L. N. Benois constructed Building No. 1, which became one of the buildings of the Court Capella. The building of the Court Capella (Court Choir Building)
was one of the first projects built by young architect Leontiy Benois, future member of the Academy and co-author of St. Petersburg Reconstruction Plan. In 1889-1893 Nikolay Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov lived here; Tchaikovsky, Glazunov and Stasov often stopped by to see him. Choir singers and teachers of the Capella lived in the same building. S.M.Lyapunov, composer, pianist and conductor, assistant and biographer of M.A.Balakirev, also lived in the same building.
In the 1890s the building housed the editorial offices of Zodchiy and Nedelya Stroitelya magazines. The former was founded in 1872. It was
a leading Russian magazine on construction and architecture that discussed a wide array of architectural events and introduced its readers
to creative and technical innovations. Both publications were unique sources of information on history of Russian architecture.
The editorial board of Zodchiy Magazine in 1893-1898 was headed by Civil Engineer M. F. Geysler, who participated in building the Capella compound under the supervision of L.N.Benois, and then served as its director.