Non-profit-making partnership "Russkaya usadba" (The Russian Country Estate) was founded in April, 2002, with the assistance of the Russian Country Estate Studies Society, Institute of Natural and Cultural Heritage in the name of D.Likhachev (Russian Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation), open joint-stock company "Moscow Development Institute" and a group of enthusiasts.

The Russian country estate is an outstanding realm of the national cultural heritage, a unique phenomenon of the world culture. The country estate is a living structure implying the nature and architecture, great poetry and economic practicability, the splendor of capitals and a quiet comfort of the province. The country estate is inseparable from the names of many state figures and military leaders, scholars, architects and artists who contributed to the glory of Russia. But this world, being the pride of the Russian culture, is on the verge of vanishing and transforming into legends by losing its shape and evidence. Few country estates, which have survived, may be lost forever within the next decades.