The Volkonsky House is the oldest stone building at the estate. Leo Tolstoy’s grandfather Prince Volkonsky and his daughter Maria lived in this house when the new architectural ensemble of Yasnaya Polyana was being built. Most likely, the house was built before Volkonsky came to Yasnaya Polyana. In his lifetime, there were weaving, carpet and leather-currying workshops in the central part of the building. In Tolstoy’s time, the servants’ living quarters, the laundry, and the «black kitchen» (the kitchen for servants) were located here. In the eastern part of the building Tolstoy’s eldest daughter Tatiana had her art studio. At present, the Volkonsky House is an administrative building and also accommodates the museum library. «The house was built by the deceased nobleman whose widow he still continued to serve, and may be described as follows: The four walls surrounding the one izba (room) were built of stone, and the interior was ten yards square. A Russian stove stood in the centre, around which was a free passage. Each corner was fenced off as a separate enclosure to the extent of several feet, and the one nearest to the door (the smallest of all) was known as «Polikey's corner» (Leo Tolstoy. Polikushka).