The doctor of Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund Augustus, pharmacist Rupertus Finck, acquired a wooden house that stood at this site in 1545 – in its place he built a brick building. Whilst serving in the ruler’s court and estates, he became one of the most famous and wealthy inhabitants of Vilnius in the 16^th century. After Finck’s death, his children did not manage to preserve their father’s accrued wealth and sold the house in 1599 to the merchant from Gdansk, Cornelius Vinholdus, who was known as an active Evangelical Reformed believer in Vilnius. In 1605 he received a privilege to install a water supply system into the house, which he also enlarged. From 1648 the building belonged to the Tyskiewicz magnate family, however, after the war of 1655 and fires, it was no longer suitable as a dwelling. It was acquired by the Vilnius Jesuit Society Academy in 1747 and was joined to the buildings of the Nobles’ College founded in 1737, providing accommodation to its lecturers. Vilnius University professors lived there in the 20^th century as well. In 1957 the building’s ground floor was adapted for public use – it housed a book-store, the Lelija clothing retailer, and the Vaiva cafe, known as an informal gathering place for intellectuals during the Soviet years.