In 1879 Tsar Alexander II gave the estate of Ramon to his niece Princess Eugenia and the Duke of Oldenburg as a wedding gift.

[3] The grand staircase leading to the first floor, where there was originally a ballroom, has shallow steps to accommodate the tight skirts then in vogue; Princess Eugenia is thought to have had input into this and other aspects of the interior design.

There appears to have been a central heating system of air ducts in the walls, and the Duke's bath was lowered into the cellar through a trapdoor to be filled with hot water.

The Oldenburg family went into exile to avoid the Russian Revolution; the estate properties were confiscated by the Bolshevik government in 1917 and the palace was subsequently used as barracks, a school, a hospital, and housing for managers of the nearby factories which had been established by Princess Eugenia.

[citation needed] Some stabilisation took place in 1999–2005, including reinforcement of the main stairway and installation of a snow melting system on the roof,[3] and there were plans to lease it on condition the architecture was preserved, but instead in 2009 a consortium of German architects proposed plans for renovating it, and in 2010 under the sponsorship of Duchess Bibiane of Oldenburg, Mrs. Dorner, a €40 million project financed by German investors was launched to preserve the palace and associated buildings as a museum and build a hotel.