There are not so many grand ducal palaces in St. Petersburg (which belonged to direct descendants, sons and daughters of emperors), and Alekseevsky is one of them.

The building has an interesting architecture. Firstly, it was based on the previous buildings that existed on this site. These are the mansions of Major General Albrecht, the owner of machine-building plants Malkiel and some other buildings. Secondly, the palace itself does not quite fit into the overall picture of the city — it was built in the style of the French chateau, as was the wish of Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovich himself, and Mesmacher embodied it in life.

After the death of the first owner, the palace was rented out, for some time it housed the German embassy, after the change of power in 1918, it housed a pioneer house, then a driving school, warehouses. By 2005, when it was decided to place the House of Music in the Alexeyevsky Palace, the building required serious restoration.

Currently, the palace hosts concerts, recruits students for performing courses, and various events, mainly related to academic music.