Cliff House (Kerala)
| Cliff House | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Traditional Kerala |
| Location | Thiruvananthapuram, India |
| Coordinates | 8°31′13″N 76°57′11″E / 8.52028°N 76.95306°ECoordinates: 8°31′13″N 76°57′11″E / 8.52028°N 76.95306°E |
| Construction started | 1939 |
| Completed | 1942 |
| Client | Chief Minister of Kerala |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Travancore Royal Maramath |
Cliff House is the official residence of Chief Minister of Kerala, located at Nanthancode in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The Cliff House is part of Cliff House compound, which houses four other ministerial residences and is located within the state ministerial residential zone.
However, the house is a statutory-only official residence, as Indian laws and protocols do not stipulate that ministers live in any particular residence; rather the law defines the minister's actual residence, whether owned privately or by government, as the official residence. Cliff House is preferred as official residence by most of Chief Ministers of Kerala.
Cliff House was constructed during the monarchy days of Travancore as the official residence of Diwan Peshkar (Secretary of the state) in charge of Devaswom affairs. Since the headquarters of Travancore Devaswom Office was commissioned at Nanthancode, it was decided to construct official residence of the Peshkar near to it. Post independence, the state PWD took over the house and surrounding land and refurnished as state Guest house. In 1956, it was reclassified as a ministerial residence.
When Kerala was formed in 1957, the first Chief Minister, E. M. S. Namboodiripad chose the house as his official residence, citing its location advantage, instead of Ross House which were used by Chief Ministers of Travancore-Cochin.
Most of the Chief Ministers, choose Cliff House as their official residence, primarily motivated by its location. The house rose into a cult status as a center of power, during tenure of K. Karunakaran as Chief Minister. Since 1979, the house has unbroken history of being official residence of Kerala Chief Minister
The 4.2 acre campus known as Cliff House Compound, houses the main structure known as Cliff House apart from 4 other ministerial residence. The other 4 ministerial residences; Ushus, Ashoka, Nest, Pournami shares common facilities of the compound.
The two storied Cliff House is built in traditional Kerala architecture with slight influences of colonial English styles. The house has a built up space of 15,000 sqft with 7 bedrooms apart from other quarters for official ministerial staff. Like any other Indian Official residences, no office facility is located inside the house as the house is meant for purely private use of Chief Minister and his family. However a conference room is there inside Cliff House, mainly meant for informal meetings, though no cabinet meetings have ever been conducted here.
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