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South Court

South Court
General information
Type Bungalow
Architectural style Indo-Saracenic
Location Mumbai, Maharashtra
India
Address 2, Bhausaheb Hirey Marg, Mumbai
Current tenants Unoccupied
Construction started 1936
Owner Government of India
Design and construction
Architect Claude Batley

South Court is an unoccupied house in the city of Mumbai in India. It is known informally as "Jinnah House", as it was built by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and remained his main residence until he left for Karachi following the Partition of India.

The house was built by Jinnah in 1936 at a then exorbitant price of 2 Lakh(200,000) rupees. This was after Jinnah returned to Mumbai from England to take charge of the Muslim League. The bungalow is located at 2, Bhausaheb Hirey Marg in the Malabar Hill area of South Mumbai. Its opposite neighbour is the residence of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Jinnah lived in the house till Partition of India in 1947, after which he moved to Karachi in Pakistan.

Designed by architect Claude Batley in the European-style architecture, the sea facing palatial bungalow was constructed using exquisite Italian marble and walnut woodwork. Specially imported Italian stonemasons were employed for its construction with Jinnah personally supervising the construction "brick by brick". The property encompasses an area of 10,000 square metres (2.5 acres). The mansion, with its pointed arches and impressive columns, is currently in a dilapidated state, and much of the walnut panelling has rotted.

The historic building was also the venue for the watershed talks on the Partition of India in September 1944 between Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi. Ironically on 15 August 1946, exactly a year before India gained independence, another round of talks was held here between Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru.


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