The Retreat Building

The Retreat Building^[3] is the official summer residence of the President of India. Entry to the building is by permission only. The President visits Mashobra at least once every year, and during this time his/her core office shifts to The Retreat at Chharabra. The building housing the Retreat is a purely wooden structure originally constructed in 1850. It has dhajji wall construction, and a plinth area of 10,628 sq ft (987.4 m²).^[4] The Retreat is the smallest of the Indian president's residences.

The building was originally constructed by the then Medical Superintendent of Simla, whose name is not known (referred to merely as Mr. C____ in Simla Past and Present by Edward J. Buck). The Retreat was taken on lease from Raja of Koti by Lord William Hay. During this period, the local population called it "Larty Sahib Ki Kothi", i.e. house of Mr. Larty, as Lord William Hay was named by locals. The lease deed contained stipulations that: the two roads from Simla and Mashobra village should, in the interest of native population of Koti State, be open to the public; no trees should be felled; and no cattle be slaughtered on the grounds. The lease of the Retreat was then taken by Sir William Mansfield, Commander-in-Chief, and then By Sir Edward Buck in 1881.^[5] In 1896, Raja of Koti used his right of preemption and took the possession of the estate. Thereafter the Retreat was consigned to the government on permanent lease by Raja of Koti. The Earl of Elgin was the first Viceroy of India to have used the Retreat as a viceregal residence. Lord Elgin secured use of the Retreat for future viceroys and constantly spent his weekends there.^[6][7][8]

After the Rashtrapati Niwas at Shimla was handed over to the Government of India in 1962 by the then president, Dr S. Radhakrishnan, in order to become an academic institute, the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, the Retreat was officially assigned to be the presidential mansion. The 16-room residence is surrounded by a 300-acre (1.2 km²) forest.

Hemkunj

Hemkunj or Hem Kunj is the official summer residence of the Governor of Punjab, India. It was formerly known as Dane's Folly. It is situated on the road leading to the Retreat, between Wildflower Hall and the Retreat. The house was originally built by an Englishman called Mr Dane, who, believing that Shimla town would come up at this point, predicted that Shimla would come up on this side of the hill. However, as his prediction was proved wrong he named the house Dane's Folly.^[9] A new building was constructed next to the Dane's Folly building, which is used as the residence of the Governor of Punjab. Dane's Folly and the new building both still exist. The entire property has now been renamed Hemkunj.

Wildflower Hall Hotel

Wildflower Hall Hotel^[10] is a luxury hotel constructed on the site of the summer residence of Lord Kitchener of Khartoum. The original hall was located higher up than the present building. After the first building was burned, a second was constructed at the present site. The first owner of Wildflower Hall was G.H.M. Batten, CS, private secretary to Earl Lytton (1876–1880). The Hall is also said to have been a favourite retreat of Lord Ripon. The most famous resident of Wildflower Hall was the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces, Lord Kitchener, who spent a considerable amount of money laying out the gardens, and planting trees and flowers. Immediately upon his arrival at Shimla, Lord Kitchener secured lease of the property from the then owner Mrs. Goldstien.

In 1909, after Lord Kitchener returned to England, Wildflower Hall was sold to Robert Hotz and his wife. In 1925, after demolishing the old house, Mrs. Hotz erected a fine three-storey hotel.

After Independence, the hotel was taken over by the Indian Government, and given to the Himachal Government to run an agriculture school. It was taken over by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation in 1973 which then ran Wildflower Hall Hotel until 1993.

On 5 April 1993 the building was razed to the ground by a fire caused by an electricity short circuit. After this, the Himachal Pradesh Government formed a joint venture with the Oberoi Hotel Group to rebuild Wildflower Hall as a luxury hotel.^[11] The present building is the third building on the Wildflower Hall site.

Kalyani Helipad, formerly Dukani

There are views of the Himalayas, Shimla and the valley below from this point. This was originally the site of a two storied residential house called Dukani. Dukani was famous for its picnic grounds and terraced flower garden. The Straits Times reports of a competition called "Scents of Dukani" held here where people were asked to identify the smell of various flowers grown in the garden of Dukani.^[12]

Dukani was built by Lt. Col. Thomas David Colyear (died 8 August 1875) of 7th Bengal Cavalry. Amongst its famous occupants were Sir John Woodburn, Lt. Governor of Bengal Sir George Robertsoe, and Lt. Governor of Bengal Sir George Charles River. Other owners of Dukani included H.B. Goad and Maharaja of Alwar.^[13] This building was also owned by the late Sir Edward Buck, the author of Simla, Past and Present.^[14] The house was surrounded by an apple orchard.

After independence the property was taken over by the Government of India. The building was used by the State Horticulture Department until 1986 when it was razed to make way for the helipad.