Metcalfe House Delhi

India is still strewn with remnants of the colonial life which the country had witnessed for the past centuries. As a seat of India’s political activities, Delhi too is dotted with colonial structures which stand today to speak of the vicissitudes which the country had passed through.

The Metcalfe House is one such evidence of the colonial domination in India. The building is basically a dwelling of Thomas Metcalfe who served as an agent of the erstwhile Governor General. Coming to India in 1813, Metcalfe had been stationed in the Mughal Court, serving as a buffer between the colonial government and the royal family.
As he gradually adapted to the alien country, Metcalfe constructed the Metcalfe House as he sought to settle in the country which he had grown an acquaintance with. The Metcalfe House had been constructed in 1830 on the banks of the Jamuna River winding by, with the majestic Red Fort towering nearby.

The Metcalfe House is a fine example of the typical Indo European style which marked the constructions of the period. Sprawling over more than a thousand acres, the house had been designed with care, manifesting the attachment which its owner had grown to it. The beautifully adorned rooms had served as the seat of European social life in the city as numerous parties and gatherings were hosted here all through Metcalfe’s stay in the house. A room here had been especially devoted to Napoleon Bonaparte as it contained the memorabilia of the French hero. As a connoisseur of art, Metcalfe had collected numerous paintings and books in his lifetime, many of which are still preserved here. An array of exquisite watercolor and miniature paintings adorn Metcalfe’s album which he had gifted to his daughter. The album had however been returned to India and is preserved here in the house where it belonged.

As Metcalfe died under mysterious circumstances, his house eventually passed on to the Indian Government. Metcalfe’s House is now an office of the Center of Defense Services Documentation, serving as a tourist attraction of Delhi. Though the house stays closed to the public, depriving them of the treasures inside, it is worth admiring from the outside as well. In fact, the building is worth visiting merely for its lush gardens and beautiful exteriors.

Metcalfe House is near the Dr. K B Hegdewar Marg Road, below the Ridge. It can be reached both by train and in metro, as both the Old Delhi Railway Station and the Kashmiri Gate Metro Station are near enough.

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