 Natalya's brother, Alexey Yefimovich Andreev, was a town architect in Lipetsk.In 1881, Ivan was admitted to Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.He graduated Alexander Kaminsky class of architecture with an honorary medal and a construction license in 1886 at the age of 19 – an exceptionally quick education by any standard (normally, it would take 10 to 15 years from admissions to professional license).