Carcosa Seri Negara

Carcosa Seri Negara
Undated exterior of the Carcosa mansion.
Former names	King's House
General information
Type	Hotel
Architectural style	Neo-Gothic & Tudor Revival
Location	Jalan Kebun Bunga, 50480 Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia
Construction started	1896 - 1897
Design and construction
Architect	A.B. Hubback

Carcosa Seri Negara is a luxury hotel on two adjacent hills inside the Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur. It is owned by the Malaysian Government. The hotel includes two colonial mansions, one named Carcosa, the other Seri Negara.

The Carcosa mansion was built in 1896-1897 as the official residence of Sir Frank Swettenham, the first British High Commissioner in Malaya of the then Resident-General of the Federated Malay States. It was designed by Arthur Benison Hubback under instruction from the State Engineer of Selangor Public Work Department Charles Edwin Spooner, and sometimes also credited to Arthur Charles Alfred Norman, a senior government architect of the Public Works Department in Malaya. It was built at a cost of about $25,000. With the eclectic fusion of Neo-Gothic and Tudor Revival styles, the residence has more than eight bedrooms including master bedroom and guest rooms; and eleven bathrooms.

Seri Negara or Beautiful Country in Malay, was originally known as the Governor's Residence when it was opened in 1913 as the official guest house of Governor of the Straits Settlement. It was later known as the King's House.

King's House was vacated by the British High Commissioner on August 31, 1957, and returned to the Malayan Government. It was then opened as the Istana Tetamu (Guest's Palace), hosting many a visiting dignitary.

With Malayan independence imminent in September 1956, the Chief Minister of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman, presented the deeds of Carcosa and its 40 acres (160,000 m²) of land to the British Government as a gift, a token of goodwill. He moved a resolution in the Federal Legislative Council which read, "That this Council approve of the proposal to make a free gift of the house and buildings known as "Carcosa", together with the gardens and land attached, as a token of the goodwill of the Malayan people to Her Majesty's Government, for use as the residence and office of the future representative of that government in an Independent Federation." Carcosa then became residence to a succession of post-independence diplomatic British High Commissioners.