A 180-year-old British heritage villa on five acres of wooded hillside in Kasauli, with views of the Dhauladhar range, a deck that catches the morning light, and owners Rachna and Kapil who live upstairs and run the place with the unhurried hospitality of people who understand that a house this old deserves to be shared carefully. Two and a half kilometres from Mall Road. One and a half hours from Chandigarh. A world away from everything else.
Kasauli is one of the oldest and best-preserved hill stations in Himachal Pradesh — a cantonment town developed by the British in the 1840s, whose centuries-old deodar forests and colonial-era architecture have survived, with extraordinary fidelity, the development pressures that have reshaped every other major hill station in north India. Walking its lower and upper malls, past the old church, the Christ Church of 1853, and the Victorian bungalows of the cantonment, it is possible to feel that time has been remarkably kind to this particular ridge.
Kashi Villa sits on that ridge: a 180-year-old British heritage villa on five acres of wooded hillside, 2.5 kilometres from Kasauli’s Mall Road and fifteen minutes on foot from the lower mall, positioned on the hillside with views of the Dhauladhar range and the twinkling lights of Shimla, Barog, and Dagshai on clear evenings. Rachna and Kapil, the owners, live on the first floor. Their guests occupy the ground floor and, in doing so, inhabit the oldest part of the house — the part that carries the deepest imprint of everything the villa has been.
The Villa and the History
The building dates from approximately the 1840s — the era of Kasauli’s establishment as a British cantonment, when the hillside was first cleared and the characteristic bungalows of the British Raj began to appear among the deodars. A 180-year-old structure in the Himalayas carries a specific kind of weight: the timber has settled, the proportions are generous in the way that colonial builders understood proportion, and the windows face in the directions they face because someone long ago understood this hillside and designed accordingly.
The Airbnb listing’s description is precise: “Kashi Villa captures the old-world grace associated with the heritage charm of Kasauli while offering the comforts of a thoughtfully curated modern escape.” The old-world grace is in the bones of the building — the bay windows where guests curl up to read, the generous proportions of the rooms, the garden that has been growing for as long as the house has stood. The modern comforts are in the ensuite bathrooms, the geysers, the free WiFi, and the thoughtful furnishing that Rachna — the interior intelligence behind the property’s presentation — has brought to every detail.
The estate is five acres of mostly wooded hillside. There are no manicured gardens — Rachna is explicit about this, and unapologetic: the villa’s carbon footprint is kept low, the lighting is functional rather than decorative, and the wooded space around the cottages is left to be what it is. The result is the particular feeling of a house in a forest rather than a resort in a landscape.
The Suites
There are three suites in the villa — two on the ground floor and one on the first floor, where Rachna and Kapil also live. The living arrangement is genuine homestay rather than managed property: the owners are present, upstairs, available, and consistently described as welcoming and warm without being intrusive.
Each suite has a bedroom, a living room area, and an ensuite bathroom with a shower cubicle and geyser. The ground floor suites open to the garden and have the particular quality of ground-floor rooms in old hill station buildings: thick walls, a natural coolness that persists through warm days, and the sense of being inside something solid and ancient. The bay window in the room with the kitchenette is specifically mentioned in reviews as a reading spot of the first order.
A large deck at the front of the property overlooks the hills and the snowline. It is the deck from which guests watch the Dhauladhar range in the mornings and the lights of distant hill towns at night. The garden surrounds it with deodar and fruit trees. This deck is, in the consistent testimony of guests, the most time-consuming part of the Kashi Villa experience: hours are lost on it without being aware of the loss.
The Food
Rachna organises meals with advance notice — home-cooked, freshly prepared, customised to guest preferences and children’s palates. The food is consistently described as simple, well-cooked, and genuinely home-made in character rather than the standardised hotel cooking that turns up even in boutique properties. Guests with young children particularly note the flexibility of the kitchen and the willingness to adapt.
Kasauli’s own food culture is accessible a short walk away: the Heritage Market near the lower mall, where the famous Bun Samosa has been drawing visitors for generations, and Ros Common, one of Kasauli’s most celebrated cafés, are both within easy reach of the villa and are recommended by Rachna with the insider’s knowledge of a local.
Kasauli: The Hill Station That Time Kept
Kasauli’s charm is, above all, the charm of restraint: a cantonment town that has maintained its character through the consistent application of restrictions that most Indian hill stations abandoned decades ago. The lower and upper malls are pedestrian, lined with old deodar trees and Victorian-era buildings. The cantonment area is largely off-limits to general tourism, preserving its residential character. The Monkey Point viewpoint — the highest point in Kasauli, from which Chandigarh is visible on clear days — is a short, rewarding walk from the mall.
Christ Church (1853), the Gurkha Fort, and the old bazaar area give Kasauli its historical texture. The Central Research Institute — one of India’s oldest medical research institutions, founded in 1905 for the production of vaccines — sits above the town. Solan, the mushroom city of India, is 30 kilometres away for those who want a day in the valley.
From Kasauli, Shimla is approximately 70 kilometres, making the villa a useful base for those who want to combine Kasauli’s quietness with Shimla’s greater range of attractions. Nalagarh Fort — a converted palace hotel — is 50 kilometres away. The Kasauli Brewery, one of the oldest distilleries in India, is within the cantonment and historically significant.
The walks around Kashi Villa — through the deodar forests and along the old cantonment roads — are the walks that guests describe as the highlight of mornings: the particular quality of hill station air, the bird sounds in the canopy, the occasional view that opens up through the trees. Eebee, the property’s resident dog, is available as a walking companion and has accumulated her own following in guest reviews over the years.
Why It Stays With You
A guest who was initially sceptical about Kasauli found Kashi Villa and stayed for three nights in early March: “I knew I had found exactly what I was looking for.” The bay window. The Dhauladhar range from the deck. Rachna waiting in the rain on the road to guide them when they arrived late. The food customised to their toddler’s palate. The enormous satisfaction of doing nothing in a very old, very beautiful house on a wooded hillside.
Rachna manages the property’s reputation with the directness and care of someone who built something real and is not inclined to let anyone misrepresent it. When a guest described the gardens incorrectly, she responded explaining that the five acres are wooded rather than manicured, that the lighting is kept minimal to preserve the carbon footprint, and that the property is a small homestay of character rather than a hotel with infrastructure. This is the statement of someone who knows what they have and is proud of it on its own terms.
This is Kasauli at its best: old wood, hill air, views that have been there since 1840, and hosts who take the experience personally.
Plan Your Visit
Address: Near Kasauli Bus Stand, Kasauli, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh — 173204 (2.5 km from Mall Road; 15 minutes downhill walk to Lower Mall) Booking: Airbnb (search Kashi Villa Kasauli) · TripAdvisor · SaffronstStays · Direct contact with Rachna via Airbnb or TripAdvisor messaging
Owners: Rachna S and Kapil (resident at property, first floor) Heritage: 180-year-old British villa (est. c. 1845) · British cantonment-era architecture Estate: 5 acres of wooded hillside · Deodar forests · Front deck with Dhauladhar and snowline views · Garden · Pet-friendly (resident dog: Eebee)
Suites: 3 — 2 on ground floor, 1 on first floor. Each with bedroom, living room, ensuite bathroom (shower, geyser). One ground-floor suite has kitchenette and bay window. Mountain and garden views throughout. Meals: Home-cooked with advance notice · Fresh and customised to preferences · Flexible for children and special diets Facilities: Free WiFi · Free parking · Daily housekeeping · Garden and deck access throughout
Getting There — Chandigarh Airport (IXC): approximately 60 km — around 1.5 hours. The most convenient airport, well-connected from Delhi and Mumbai. — Chandigarh city: approximately 70 km — around 1.5 hours by road. — Kalka Railway Station: approximately 35 km — around 50 minutes. Kalka is on the main railway line from Delhi; the famous Kalka–Shimla toy train passes through Kasauli area. — From Delhi: approximately 290 km — around 5 to 5.5 hours via NH44 and NH5. — From Shimla: approximately 70 km — around 2 hours. — The villa is near the Kasauli bus stand — coordinate exact directions with Rachna on booking as the driveway requires local knowledge. Rachna will typically meet guests at the road if arriving in the dark.
Nearby — Lower Mall: 15-minute walk · Mall Road: 2.5 km · Monkey Point: 4 km · Christ Church (1853): 3 km · Heritage Market (Bun Samosa): 15-minute walk · Kasauli Brewery: within cantonment · Chandigarh Airport: 60 km · Shimla: 70 km
Best Time to Visit: October to March for clear Dhauladhar views and cool, crisp hill station air · December to February for cold evenings by the fireplace — the villa in winter has the full hill station magic · March to May for the spring flowering of the deodar forest · Avoid peak season weekends (May–June) if quiet is the primary requirement — Kasauli crowds considerably on long weekends · The villa is pet-friendly year-round
