About Raman Villa

Raman Villa sits atop Kelston, a leafy, quiet suburb of Shimla, no more than a 30-minute walk from The Mall, the heart of the erstwhile summer capital of British India. Kelston was once an estate subsuming most of that hill, and once owned by one Mr. Herbert Septimus Harrington. The bulk of the hill and the original villa (at 80 rooms, “mansion” is more appropriate!) was purchased in 1948 by Uttamchand Suri, who had relocated to Shimla from Rawalpindi.

A brief digression here may be indulged in, to highlight an interesting part of Raman Villa’s history.

The construction of the famous Kalka–Shimla railway (The Toy Train) on narrow-gauge tracks was begun by the privately funded Delhi-Ambala-Kalka Railway Company following the signing of a contract between the secretary of state and the company on 29 June 1898.

The government however gifted the land (that was not theirs to gift, in the first place) to the railway company. The estimated cost of the railway, of Rs. 8,678,500 rupees doubled by the time the line was opened. The Chief Engineer of the project was Herbert Septimus Harrington (1855-1913).

The doubling of the project cost and the astounding increase in Harrington’s wealth were dubiously concomitant occurrences and the good Chief Engineer could now afford to purchase his way into high society and bought himself a little hill, built an 80-room mansion on it and in a fit of nostalgia, named it *Kelston*, after an estate in Somerset, once owned by the Harrington family and demolished in the 18th century.

In 1982 the Himachal Housing Board, acquired most of the hill from the Suri’s and built, on that gorgeous earth with magnificent views, apartment blocks, which they sold to private individuals. The Suris retained 1700 square yards of land with a cottage of 3 bedrooms on it, which remained defiantly standing for decades.

That is till 2014, when a 3rd generation member of the Suri family decided to rebuild a family home and tore down the once proud but now derelict cottage and built a house of her dreams. From those ruins rose the magnificent Raman Villa, named after her father.

Raman Villa is located on a sloping part of the hill in a tony, leafy locality called Longwood, inhabited by retired high court judges and other such grandees. Despite being approximately a 30-minute walk away from The Mall, the surroundings are serene and peaceful – a truly quiet neighbourhood. The home is situated on 1700 square yards of land and views from the house are breathtaking – of the …. mountain range. The home itself has a built-up area of 7,000 square feet with 5 bedrooms, a library / TV lounge overlooking the valley, drawing and dining rooms with a balcony attached to the master bedroom suite.

Raman Villa was conceived as a family home and lovingly constructed to the highest specifications with every piece of furniture, linen, upholstery, fittings, carpets etc., selected with loving care.

The interior of the house has been designed by a leading interior architect with a lot of the furniture from the original Kelston Manor.

The entire wooden flooring of the house has a German underfloor heating system that provides an evenly heated residence even in the coldest winter!

The garden and lawn are spacious – over 3,000 square feet. Vehicles can be driven right up to the house and there is adequate parking for 3 vehicles, including one covered garage. There are separate quarters for domestic help, for one adjoining the house and for 3 in the basement.

There is a live-in caretaker cum cook, assisted by a cleaner/gardener and supervised by a part-time property manager that the family have been associated with for over 3 decades.

Other standard amenities are:

Televisions upstairs and downstairs

Land line, with an intercom system connecting all rooms

Well equipped kitchen, with all necessary crockery, cutlery, linen and appliances.

Five bedrooms, four with an attached toilet

Wi-Fi in all rooms

Contact Us

971 55 196 1234

971 50 551 3784

info@ramanvillasimla.com