This was, till the mid - 19th century, the place of residence for the junior servants (who were called writers of the East India Company). The original building was constructed in 1770 on the same site as the present one, but it was plain stuccoes and with no pretensions to architectural beauty. The present Gothic structure built during the tenure of Lt. Governor Ashley Eden (1877) is much more imposing than the original ever was. Situated at the northern end of Dalhousie Square, it now houses the Secretariat of West Bengal Government.