It is written in an archival record that a path was laid to the main road next to Great Abatis Line, in front of the village of Yasnaya Polyana, owned by Stepan Kartsev.

Yasnaya Polyana was bought by the writer's maternal great-grandfather, Prince Sergei Fedorovich Volkonsky, in the name of his wife Maria Dmitrievna, née Chaadaeva.

Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky retired in 1799 and, together with his daughter Maria Nikolaevna, moved to the estate, which came into his personal possession after the death of his father Sergei Fedorovich Volkonsky in 1784. Significant work began, which changed the former appearance of the estate: the construction of a large architectural ensemble, and the creation of a landscape park with ponds.

Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya, who inherited the estate after her father's death, married Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy. The groom's father, Ilya Andreevich Tolstoy, who served as governor in Kazan, left his son considerable debts. Nikolai Ilyich could be helped by marrying a rich bride. But the marriage of convenience turned out to be happy. Five children were born into the Tolstoy family: sons Nikolai, Sergei, Dmitry, Lev and daughter Maria.

In autumn 1824, the construction of the large house was completed. The Tolstoy family moved into this house from one of two wings. It had presumably about 40 rooms, among them the nursery, the class-room, the waiter’s room, the divan room, the great hall and the drawing room. In 1854the house was sold and hauled away. A foundation stone of the house was left on the spot where the house had been located; later the following inscription was engraved on it: “Here stood the house where Leo Tolstoy was born.”

Leo Tolstoy inherited Yasnaya Polyana according to a family custom: as the youngest son in the family he got the estate where his parents lived. In the early 1850s, he joined the army and spent several years in the Caucasus and in Crimea.

After returning from military service Leo Tolstoy settled in the right wing that gradually increased. Two permanent extensions were made in 1871 and 1894.

In the left wing the writer opened a school for peasant children, where he taught himself. The main principles of learning were total freedom of students and lack of any coercion.

On 23 September, 1862, Tolstoy married Sophia Bers, the daughter of his friends, a Moscow doctor Andrey Bers and his wife Lyubov. The bride was 18, the groom was 34 years old. They lived together for 48 years and had 13 children.

After renouncing his property, Tolstoy prepared the plan of its division among his wife and children. Yasnaya Polyana and its surroundings were given to his youngest son Ivan. The western part of the estate was given to his wife Sophia.

On October 28, 1910, the 80-year-old Leo Tolstoy left his home estate secretly from his family, accompanied by his doctor Dushan Makovitsky. He caught a severe cold and got off the train at the train station of Astapovo. The writer died there from pneumonia on November 7.

In 1911 Tolstoy’s widow Sophia twice wrote to Nicolas II suggesting that the National Government should buy Yasnaya Polyana and preserve it, but she was refused. She was given a pension, and it was partly used to fund the running of the estate. Sophia did a great deal to preserve the landscape and the buildings untouched. In fact, she was the first curator of the museum.

On May 27, 1919, Tolstoy's daughter Alexandra received a deed from the government to Yasnaya Polyana which certified that the estate and all the belongings in Tolstoy's house have "a unique cultural and historical value and, as a national property, are to be under state guardianship."

On June 10, 1921, Yasnaya Polyana was declared a museum by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK). Alexandra Tolstaya, who played an enormous role in creating the museum and developing it in the 1920s, was appointed its "Commissar and Curator". She had to create in Yasnaya Polyana a cultural and educational center with a library and a school, arrange lectures, performances, exhibitions, and tours.

At that time Tolstoy's granddaughter Sophia Tolstaya-Esenina was the museum director. Due to the threat of Nazi occupation she organized the evacuation of museum exhibits to the deep rear. On October 13, 1941, 110 boxes with the contents of the Tolstoy House were sent to Moscow, and then to Tomsk. From October, 29 to December 15, 1941, Yasnaya Polyana was occupied by German troops. Upon retreating the Germans set the Tolstoy House on fire. The fire was successfully extinguished, and work on restoring the estate was soon afterward begun.

The directorship was taken over by Leo Tolstoy’s great-great-grandson, Vladimir Tolstoy. Since that moment, the Tolstoys have started coming back to Yasnaya Polyana, and returning to their roots, their history, and to the traditions of old Russian country estates.

Leo Tolstoy’s personal library was included in the Memory of the World Register, a list of documentary heritage under UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.

Since Vladimir Tolstoy was appointed RF President's Advisor on Culture, Ekaterina Tolstaya has been the director of the Yasnaya Polyana Museum.

The project “All of Tolstoy in One Click” is aimed to digitize complete works of Leo Tolstoy in 90 volumes. The project was implemented by ABBYY, the Tolstoy Museum in Moscow, and the Leo Tolstoy Museum-Estate at Yasnaya Polyana.