The project, which was estimated to cost 80 million birr for a two-storey house, was being supervised by Meles's wife, Azeb Mesfin.

It was used for the state dinners in honor of the visits of British Queen Elizabeth II in 1965 and French President Charles de Gaulle.

Burial place of Emperors Menelik II and Lij Iyasu and Empresses Zewditu and Taytu.

[5] It was opened on 9 September 1987 after the promulgation of the new constitution and election of the assembly, to a grand ceremony that counted Presidents Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Hassan Gouled Aptidon of Djibouti and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt as guests.

After the fall of the Mengistu government, the Ethiopian Parliament convened its previous chambers, and today the building is used as an occasional meeting place.