The mansion on Tsarskaya street in Gori belonged to Prince Ivan Givich Amilakhvari (1829–1905), a native of the village of Kvemo-Chala in the Shida Kartli region.
After graduating from the Tiflis Gymnasium in 1850, he began his military career in the Nizhny Novgorod Regiment of Prince of Württemberg and took part in the 1851 campaign in Chechnya.
For his bravery in the battles on the Shavdon and Bass rivers, he was awarded the Badge of the Military Order, and in September 1852 he received his first officer rank.
Amilakhvari continued to rise swiftly through the ranks: by 1854 he became a staff captain, in 1857 — a captain, and in 1859 he distinguished himself in battle near the settlement of Dolets, where his squadron captured an enemy artillery gun.
For this feat he was awarded a golden saber inscribed “For Bravery.”
By 1864, in his 12th year of service as an officer, he was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the renowned Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment.
Among his most notable achievements in peacetime was his 1886 diplomatic mission to quell unrest in Chechnya sparked by rumors of the introduction of universal conscription for the mountain peoples.
He restored order without the use of arms or bloodshed, earning great trust from the local population, and that same year he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle.
The prince also took part in foreign military gatherings and visited the German army in Paris, where the kaiser himself noted his abilities.
He died on August 29, 1905, and was buried in Tbilisi within the grounds of the Kashveti Church.