Reviving Skinner’s 200-year-old haveli in Delhi

Skinner's Haveli, a historic site near Kashmere Gate, will be restored as a memorial for Hindu College's 125th anniversary, funded by alumni.

Tucked away behind the stately St James’ Church near Kashmere Gate, the last crumbling remains of a 200-year-old haveli — once the palatial home of a flamboyant Anglo-Indian soldier of fortune — are finally set to be restored. The building, once known as Skinner’s Haveli and later as part of the Hindu College complex, has quietly deteriorated for decades. But after years of appeals and planning, the Hindu College Old Students Association (OSA) has received municipal permission to bring it back to life.

The dilapidated remains of the 200-year-old Skinner (Sikander) ki Haveli at Kashmere Gate in New Delhi. (Sanjeev verma/HT photo)

The plan is ambitious: a full-scale restoration of the remaining structures, to serve as a memorial marking the 125th anniversary of the college’s founding. The restored complex will house a café, public library, exhibition gallery, co-working space, and a landscaped courtyard. The project is to be funded entirely by alumni contributions, and the Aga Khan Foundation has been approached for conservation guidance.

A digital rendering of how the structures will appear after restoration.

Yet, before it became a crumbling municipal office or a college laboratory, this estate belonged to one of Delhi’s most unusual characters: Colonel James Skinner — or “Sikandar Sahib,” as he was then known to locals.

The man behind the haveli

Born in 1778 to a Scottish father and an Indian Rajput mother, Skinner was a soldier, writer, patron of the arts, and founder of two cavalry regiments that still serve in the Indian Army. His life straddled the worlds of the East India Company and the Maratha Empire, and his loyalties — and lifestyle — reflected that duality. Skinner started his military career with the Marathas but switched allegiances to the British after being dismissed when the Marathas went to war with the Company. In 1803, he raised what became the 1st and 3rd Skinner’s Horse — legendary cavalry regiments that earned him a place in military history and the nickname “father of the Indian cavalry.”

By the early 1820s, Skinner had acquired a five-acre estate near Kashmere Gate and built a sprawling mansion on it. This was no ordinary house. Modelled partly on Mughal palaces, the estate featured gardens, a tank, and a circular baradari — an open pavilion with arches and a sloping roof-- where Skinner is said to have received visitors in a manner befitting a prince. His “hall of private audience,” noted biographer Dennis Holman, was “modelled on that of the emperor.” This was Delhi in flux, and Skinner, fluent in Persian and Hindi, straddled the colonial and indigenous worlds with his own flair.

In 1836, Skinner added to his legacy by commissioning St James’ Church, now regarded as Delhi’s oldest church still in use. The building, with its dome, stained glass, and graveyard (where Skinner himself lies buried), still stands next to the haveli. After his death in 1841, the estate remained in the Skinner family for over 50 years before being acquired by Rai Bahadur Sultan Singh, treasurer of the Imperial Bank of India, towards the end of the 19th century.

In 1908, the sprawling haveli complex began a new chapter — as the home of Hindu College. From then until 1953, students of the fledgling institution occupied its rooms and courtyards. Old alumni remember heated student parliaments and cultural events held in the central courtyard, a tradition now set to be revived. After the college moved out, the haveli fell into disuse, at times housing a court and eventually being absorbed into the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s zonal offices.

The building

Today, little remains of Skinner’s original mansion.

What survives are two structures: a colonnaded building with several rooms — once used as science laboratories by the college — and the circular baradari, now partially enclosed and surrounded by broken furniture, discarded files, and debris. During a visit, several rooms were found marked “abandoned” or “dangerous.”

“The structure is currently in poor shape, but it has immense historical and emotional value,” said Ravi Burman, president of the Hindu College Old Students Association. “We pursued the NOC ( No Objection Certificate )for a year. Now, with MCD’s (Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s) approval, the restoration can finally begin.”

The project team, led by conservation architect Bhawana Dandona, began work six months ago with no existing blueprints or documentation. “We had to start from scratch,” said Dandona. “We surveyed the site, documented the architecture, mapped the structural damage, and even conducted oral interviews with alumni and staff who remembered the space.”

The current state of the structure. (Sanjeev Verma/HT/Hindu College OSA)

Those memories revealed fascinating details.

According to alumni, the circular baradari once served as an amphitheatre, and early 20th-century maps confirmed that it was built on what was once a water tank. The Wilson Survey of 1911, the first comprehensive mapping of the Walled City, showed gardens and a tank at the site, which was later filled to create open ground for gatherings.

“The original baradari had no walls — just columns and a sloping roof. The walls and windows were added later. We want to restore as much of that openness as we can,” said Dandona.

The second structure, she noted, had also briefly been rented to Sultan Singh. “We went to Delhi archives and found rent slips from that time,” she added.

The restoration plan

The restored baradari will feature a permanent memorial commemorating 125 years of Hindu College. The rear half will serve as a multipurpose space for civic meetings, book launches, and community events. The colonnaded building is being reimagined as a café, co-working zone, and the future home of the MCD’s heritage cell. The team has also proposed demolishing a decaying shed at the rear of the complex to create a landscaped courtyard.

“The area around Kashmere Gate is congested, noisy, and short on open public spaces,” said Dandona. “Our aim is to carve out a corner of calm and cultural engagement here — a space that reconnects with the city’s history while remaining relevant to the present.”

The project now awaits clearance from the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC). The circular baradari is classified as a Grade-2 heritage structure, while the colonnaded wing is listed as Grade-3. Once HCC approval is secured, restoration will begin using traditional materials and conservation techniques.

Digital renderings of how the structures will appear after restoration. (Sanjeev Verma/HT/Hindu College OSA)

“It will take time,” said Burman. “This isn’t a modern construction. Heritage work moves slowly, and we want to keep the soul of the building intact.”

Anju Srivastava, principal of Hindu College, said,“We will welcome any effort being taken to restore the heritage site of the Old Hindu College and we will be glad to extend a helping hand, if needed.” Funding for the entire project will be raised by the alumni, with MCD providing only permissions. The Aga Khan Foundation, known for its restoration work at Humayun’s Tomb and Sunder Nursery, has recommended conservation experts for the job. No response was available from MCD.

If restored successfully, Skinner’s Haveli will mark an unusual confluence of Delhi’s military, colonial, educational, and civic histories — a place where a cavalryman-turned-courtier once held audience, and where students debated the future of a new nation.