The Peterhoff is a building in Chaura Maidan,

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

which housed at least seven viceroys and governors general of India during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. It was built in the Tudor style, with wooden frames and shingled eaves. The building is situated in Annadale, in the ward of Shimla. Its first occupant was

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, (20 July 181120 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat. He served as Governor of Jamaica (1842–1846), Governor General of the Province of Canada (1847– ...

, who moved into the building in 1863. After

India's independence The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic movement t ...

from the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, the building served as the Punjab High Court. It was at Peterhoff that

the trial ''The Trial'' () is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best-known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, wi ...

Nathuram Godse Nathuram Vinayak Godse (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) () was an Indian Hindu nationalist and political activist who was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. He shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range at a multi-faith praye ...

, who assassinated

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

, took place in 1948–49. In 1971, when

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

became a full-fledged state, Peterhoff was the

Raj Bhavan Raj Bhavan () is the common name of the official residences of the governors of the states of India and may refer to: List of Raj Bhavan See also * Raj Niwas *Rashtrapati Ashiana *Rashtrapati Bhavan *Rashtrapati Nilayam Rashtrapati Nilaya ...

(the governor's residence).Peterhoff (Old Raj Bhavan At Chauramaidan)
Governor House, Himachal Pradesh The building was destroyed in a fire on the night of 12 January 1981. Subsequently, the Raj Bhavan was shifted to the Barnes' Court building. The Peterhof was rebuilt to a new design as a luxury hotel in 1991. It has 34 suites. Seventeen rooms of the hotel are owned by Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) and the rest are reserved for the governor, chief minister, state guests and general administration department.

References

Official residences in India Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth Buildings and structures in Shimla British-era buildings in Himachal Pradesh {{India-struct-stub