These were built by Sir Thomas Metcalfe (1795–1853), a civil servant, when he was the Governor General's last British resident (agent) at the Mughal court of Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.

He refurbished the 16th century Mughal tomb of Quli Khan in true English style as a pleasure retreat by surrounding it with many rest houses, follies and gardens.

He used to lease out his retreat as a guest house to honeymooning couples, as it provided an idyllic view of the Qutub Minar with its surrounding structures.

The mansion was surrounded by well manicured garden of cypress tree lined pathways, flowerbeds, orange groves, roads and a swimming pool.

An album titled 'Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi', which had 89 folios with about 130 paintings (a few pictured here) of the Mughal and pre-Mughal period monuments, was compiled by Metacalfe with a transcript written by him to his daughter Emily.

To your father it has been endeared by many years of more…An unusual tale recounted is of a lavish Christmas Eve party in 1895 held at this house in which a mysterious Englishman was murdered in the antechamber and simultaneously a fire also broke out that destroyed Metcalfe's Testimonials.

The octagonal Mughal tomb built in the 17th century was bought by Metcalfe and remodeled in the style of European residences with extensive gardens and follies for use as a pleasure resort during the monsoon season.

The purpose in building this place was stated to be that Metcalfe wanted to keep a watch on Emperor Bahadur Shah II who also had his Zafar Mahal palace in Mehrauli to spend his summer time.

[3][6][13][14] The complex was a pleasant place with several controlled streamlets of water, which led to a tank (now called the Metcalfe's Boathouse and Dovecote).

All of the above can be seen in the Archaeological Park (a special enclosure created recently), which has strategically placed signages showing directions to the various heritage monuments.

The retreat had been built like a citadel, the tomb of Quli Khan at its core, along with the folly (also called the only landlocked light house) in the Indo–Persian baradari style.

He loved this retreat and had a set of rooms made for use as a study and also lodgings for his daughter Emily to stay with him, while his wife and son lived in the formal town house in the old city.

"The palaces crumbling into dust... the myriads of vast mausoleums, every one of which was intended to convey to futurity the deathless fame of its cold inhabitant, and all of which are now passed by, unknown and unnoticed.