In 1889 the Sergej Imperial Hospice was completed by the Jerusalem-based architect Alexei or George Frangia, an additional accommodation with 25 luxuriously furnished rooms for "rich and honourable guests", on a plot of land to the northeast of and adjacent to the actual compound. It was commissioned by Grand Duke Sergei (1857–1905), brother to Czar Alexander III, and then President of the Orthodox Palestine Society (Pravoslavnoje Palestinskoje Obshchestvo). The splendid building was made entirely out of hewn stone and was referred to as "one of the most marvellous buildings in the city" by the newspapers.