Thakur House, situated by the Dutch Cemetery road is an 18th century Dutch building. It was built on the Gelderland Bastion of the erstwhile Dutch fort, which was built around the bastions of the demolished Portuguese fort. Kochi was colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century and then by the Dutch in the 17th century. Earlier, Thakur House was known as Kunal Bungalow or Hill Bungalow. This bungalow atop the cliff facing the sea, has been an iconic landmark at Fort Kochi for centuries.
The house reflects the luxurious lifestyle of the colonial era. It has vast lawns and the sea breeze keeps the house very cool. This house built in 1700s is a monument of Dutch architecture with wooden floors, spacious rooms, and bay windows. It is a two-storied building and there is remarkable symmetry between the two floors. The original building had several verandas and a hall. Alterations were done to the building by the various occupants of the house. It is believed that there are tunnels to the main centers of Fort Kochi from the building.
The Dutch built this house as a club and community center for the Dutch East India Company. During the last decades of the 19th century, when the Dutch left India, it was passed on to a prominent spice trading family of Mattancherry. In the 1900s, the National Bank of India purchased this building from the sole-survivor of the family who occupied the house, and used it as the official residence of the managers of the National Bank of India during the British reign. In 1977, a renowned tea trading firm, Bahadur Thakur and Company purchased this building, since which it has been the residence of the Thakurs.
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