The area, and the Bernasconi family in particular, had produced numerous artists and architects, active across Europe, in England, Spain, Italy and Germany, as well as several distant cousins who had also come to work in Russia.
Though the job ultimately went to the Frenchman Auguste de Montferrand, Bernasconi’s proposals won him recognition in Saint Petersburg’s architectural circles, and he was nominated as a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1814.
To gain the title of Academician, Andrey Voronikhin set Bernasconi the task of "drafting the plans for a building to house a provincial gymnasium".
Bernasconi designed this extant Empire style two-storey residence for the clergymen of the adjacent Church of the Prophet Elijah at Porokhoviye, Saint Petersburg.
His wife, Gioconda Rossetti was living in Bedano (near Lugano) at the time of his death, and the architect Domenico Quadri wrote her a letter dated 14 January 14, 1829, stating "I can tell you that we have made a pompous funeral, which will cost some money.