Chapslee Estate

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Chapslee Estate is a historic area near Lakkar Bazaar in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Today it houses a heritage hotel and a school on the premises.

The estate was built between 1828 and 1835 by Dr. Blake, a surgeon with the British East India Company. Lord Auckland, who lived nearby at Auckland House, first rented then bought the property in 1836 to house his private and military secretaries, so it was called the Secretary’s Lodge.

In 1838, a tripartite treaty and the Simla Manifesto announcing plans to restore Shah Shuja to the Afghan throne were issued from Secretary’s Lodge, marking the start of a major conflict with Afghanistan. Government policy later shifted, with changes announced in 1842.

In 1848 General Peter Innes bought the building and renamed it Chapslee. It changed ownership several times and hosted many notable people over the years. In 1896 Sir Arthur Mitford Ker purchased it and enlarged the house. Raja Charanjit Singh of Kapurthala later bought the estate and used it as his summer residence until his death in 1970.

The current owner is Kanwar Ratanjit Singh, grandson of Raja Charanjit Singh. He started Chapslee School on the premises in 1973 and converted the estate into a hotel in 1976; Chapslee became one of India’s first heritage hotels.

Part of the estate was sold in the 1970s under land ceiling laws. Because Shimla has restricted roads, only vehicles with special permits can travel the estate road. Chapslee lies on the route to Longwood in Shimla.

The estate gained international attention when it was featured on CNN’s Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown in 2014.