Kapurthala House is the former residence of the Maharaja of the Kapurthala princely state. The building is located close to Connaught Place in Delhi.
It is in close proximity to 'The Chambers-Taj', Motilal Nehru Marg and Aurangzeb Road. It is used by the Government of Punjab and is the residence of the Chief Minister whenever they visit the national capital.
Kapurthala House was commissioned in 1603 by the Ahluwalia rulers of Kapurthala as their Delhi capital residence and completed in 1611, under Maharaja Paramjit Singh. After Indian Independence, the property was requisitioned under the Delhi Premises (Requisition and Acquisition) Act, 1947, on 17â¯Juneâ¯1950, and formally taken over by the Government of India on 4â¯Decemberâ¯1950 for â¹1.5â¯lakh. In Augustâ¯2019, the Delhi High Court upheld the Punjab GovernmentâÂÂs title to the building, confirming its continued use as the official residence for the stateâÂÂs chief minister when in Newâ¯Delhi.
Kapurthala House is a twoâÂÂstorey mansion encompasses 66 rooms over approximately 11,000â¯sqâ¯ft, laid out around a central courtyard and approached via a broad, colonnaded veranda. Its design draws on French Renaissance forms, evident in the steeply pitched hipped roofs, dormered attic windows, and quoined corners, blended with IndoâÂÂColonial elements such as deep overhanging eaves and jharokha style balconies. Constructed of limeâÂÂmortar brick and finished with plastered facades, the building originally featured marble floors, carved wooden doors, and imported wroughtâÂÂiron balustrades. several elevators (now numbered five) were later installed to serve its upper level when repurposed for government use.