Mount Everest Hotel, Darjeeling

SURVIVES AN EARTHQUAKE - The only building in Darjeeling not affected by the destructive earthquake which caused much damage in January of this year was the Hotel Mount Everest, which was built in 1914-1915 from the designs of Mr Stephen Wilkinson, who is now County Architect for Lancashire. The site on which the hotel was built was built was actually rejected by the Safety Sites Committee and it was only on submission of an elaborate set of drawings showing that the building would be erected on a shelving rock going completely through the mountain, and detailing a system of cantilever girders, that permission to build was obtained.  [Manchester Guardian 21 June 1934 page 11]

Hotel Mount Everest was built on the land where once stood the Rutland House and the Newstead House. On the 14th March 1914, a deed was delivered in favour of Mr. Arratoon Stephen by Mr. N. C. Bose, the solicitor who owned the place along with Encee Cottage that became the Manager’s bungalow. Encee Cottage is a heritage building more than a hundred years old. The hotel was completed on the 12th October, 1915. It was built on principles of continental hotels by Mr. Arratoon Stephen. It was designed by Mr. Stephan Wilkinson, the architect.

Reference    Manchester Guardian 21 June 1934 page 11