The Boy With The Pearl Earring

Jewellery designer Hanut Singhs sophisticated aesthetic manifests in his ancestral Mussoorie cottage as aristocratic eccentricity, firmly anchored in a sense of place

- Nikhil Khanna

Built in 1840, St Helen’s Cottage in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand sits elegantly on a hillside bluff, overlooking the Himalayan peaks of Bandar Poonch (which means ‘monkey’s tail’), Chaukhamba and Srikantha in the north. The cottage is part of the storied Kapurthala Estate in a hill station that was always considered racier than stodgy Simla, which was the official summer capital of the British Indian government— stationed viceroys have that effect on a population. St Helen’s, 178 years later, still possesses the charm, grace and magic of a dwelling that once held—and continues to hold—one family and all its friends, in complete thrall.

The first members of the Kapurthala royal family to occupy St Helen’s were Maharajkumar Karamjit Singh and his wife Princess Sita Devi, the grandparents of jewellery designer, Hanut Singh. Hanut, who inherited the property from his late uncle (the celebrated cultural guru and internationally recognized authority on textiles, Martand ‘Mapu’ Singh) preserved the essential character of the house; it is a home for conversations, music, food and the celebration of life.

The red-tile-roofed cottage sits at the end of a sloping driveway lined with oak, deodar and chestnut trees. It leads from a wrought-iron gate to the front veranda of the house, which is often used for cocktail hours when the weather is agreeable. Estate crystal, ancient decanters with crests, and bowls filled with wedges of Kumaon lemon are laid out on Andrée Putman-style folding tables. Guests seat themselves outside while waiting for the evening to unfurl; inside the cottage, other wonders await.

HOUSE OF STORIES