Construction of the building started in 1881 and was funded by the son of Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, Semyon Mikhailovich [ru], who had recently returned from the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War.

The construction of the palace that was initially designed by French architect Étienne Bouchard in the Louis XIII style was soon suspended after the death of Prince Semyon Mikhailovich Vorontsov.

In 1889 the unfinished palace was bought by the Imperial Domains Agency [ru] for Alexander III of Russia.

Although Massandra was listed among imperial residences, no royals ever stayed there overnight (rather preferring the neighboring Livadia Palace).

After the October Revolution and before World War II, the residence was used as a government sanatorium "Proletarian Health" for people ill with tuberculosis.