Bugrov’s Flophouse is a three-story red brick building in the rational style of Russian architecture, which was common at the turn of the 19th—20th centuries. It was built in 1880–1885 by the millionaire merchant family of Bugrovs.

The flophouse was designed to provide shelter to up to 700 homeless people. Each would be given a pound of bread and some hot water.

During the 1897 census, the enumerators came to Bugrov’s Flophouse too, where they met someone called «Baron» who is said to have become the prototype for the Baron in Maxim Gorky’s play «The Lower Depths». However, the low life depicted in the play was quite different from what went on at this particular shelter. As the Burgovs were Old Believers, they strictly opposed drinking alcohol and all revelry. There even was a set of ground rules painted on the house: «No drinking vodka. No singing. Keep quiet.»