Established as a summer camp for horses in the Governor General's Bodyguard, the Ashiana was built in 1920 as the residence of the unit's commandant.

[1] The Rashtrapati Ashiana was originally established in 1838 as a camp for the summering of horses and remounts of the Governor General's Bodyguard.

Ashiana hosted Presidents Ahmed, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Zail Singh and K. R. Narayanan who stayed there in 1998.

[9][10] It covers an area of 237 acres and consists of the Ashiana building, the annexe complex, a swimming pool and the upper and lower stables.

The building was retrofitted with seismic bands to make it earthquake resistant and the estate underwent extensive landscaping and renovation of its system of irrigation channels.