William Fraser Bungalow
Located just behind the sacred St James Church stands an off white large domed building popularly known as William Fraser Bungalow and currently an administrative office of Northern Railway. Built on the ‘tykhana’ or cellar made of Lakhori bricks of Ali Mardan Khan palace, Shah Jahan’s senior general and one of the most important ‘Omrahs’ in the Mughal Empire, the Bungalow was constructed in 1803. It was the residence of the Deputy Resident of Delhi, Sir William Fraser, when British first came to Delhi in 1803. Sir William Fraser was known for his likings for Indian social life and his Indian friends. He was appointed Resident of Delhi in 1828.
There are two separate blocks, which forms the whole building. The first block, which is attached to the portico, has four octagonal corner turrets. It is a low rectangular building and it leads to the dome chamber that was added later. The second block, which was also the part of the original building, stands on the far side of the first block. The special feature of the second block is that it has a bow-fronted verandah and it once faced the Yamuna River. The building suffered damages during the first war of independence. It was repaired later and has been well maintained till date. The building was awarded the Heritage Award in 1997 in which it was described that the “building seems to be a fusion of late Victorian and Indo-Saracenic style” and “is maintained well with minimum alteration”.
