Laxmi Vilas Palace, Vadodara

The Laxmi Vilas Palace in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, constructed by the Gaekwad, a prominent Maratha family, who ruled the Baroda State. Lukshmi Villas Palace (Laxmi Vilas Palace or Lakshmi Vilas Palace), the magnificent residence of the royal family of Baroda was built by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III in 1890 with Major Charles Mant as the chief architect.Until the 1860s the family still occupied the old Nazarbaug Palace, a tall building with an encrustation of pavilions and kiosks on the roof which the French traveller, Rousselet, found very disquieting: ‘The mass of buildings, planted on the summit of an edifice almost entirely of wood, whose foundations were soaking in a damp soil, betokened great audacity on the part of the architects, and still more confidence on that of the king’.
After this the Lukshmi Vilas Palace, an extravagant building of the Indo-Saracenic school, was built by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III in 1890 at a cost of GBP180,000. Major Charles Mant was the architect. It is reputed to have been the largest private dwelling built till date and four times the size of Buckingham Palace. At the time of construction it boasted the most modern amenities such as elevators and the interior is reminiscent of a large European country house. It remains the residence of the Royal Family, who continue to be held in high esteem by the residents of Baroda.