House of Masons in Minsk has a long history.State Museum of the History of Theatrical and Musical Culture of the Republic of Belarus is situated there today. But no one knows what was there before. In 1817 after seven years of construction a mysterious building appeared in the Upper Town. It was said that the house was built by the order of the Lodge of Freemasons ”Red Torch“. Unfortunately there is no evidence that the house owner Yan Khodzka was the master of the lodge. However during the restoration in 1922 it became clear that the house had been built in the shape of the Masonic cross and the paned windows were deception: they were bricked up inside - it wasn’t possible to see what was going on inside.

At various times this building had different owners, many apartments were rented. For example the family of future composer Stanislaw Manushka lived there on the second floor. There was a time when recruiting station of the Minsk province was located in this house. In Soviet times the house was divided into communal apartments and after the restoration which lasted for ten years the House Masons  became the State Museum of the History of Theatrical and Musical Culture of the Republic of Belarus.