In pics: A trail around Barrister Babur Bari and other centuries-old Kolkata mansions

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A few steps from the entrance of this grand old house, you’ll find a pillar with Greek architectural influence on your left. Manish says, “The style of flowers constructed represent Acanthus leaves, a common feature in Corinthian columns. Left to this stunning pillar, is a stained glass window, reminiscent of a decadent household”

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Every affluent Bengali household in those days would boast of a Thakur Dalan, a space dedicated to holding Durga Pujas. The house, inclusive of this capacious puja area, was built by Chandi Basu, after he amassed a great deal of wealth by starting a trading outpost close to the Maratha ditch. It was during the time when the East India Company was starting to make its presence felt

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This hanging balcony, again inspired by European households, with wrought iron balustrade and wood carvings on awnings, make for an elongated walkway running parallel to the length of the rooms that one needed to cross by to enter the balcony.

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As you head up using the red-oxide staircase, an entrance leads you to a marble-floored room with windows as big as the doors, the 100-year-old teak wood chairs and tables. A striking feature found in this massive room is the two full-length mirrors imported from Belgium and placed close to the main entrance

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Right opposite to the room with the hanging balcony, lies another teaser to an old-school affluent Bengali house with suitcases called portmanteau kept at one corner of the room. While the room gives you movie-set vibes, it's interesting to find out that actually several film shoots have been done in this very same room

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Right from the entrance, the house is an accurate depiction of the grandeur and passion with which residential properties were built by the Kolkata elite two centuries ago. “Krishnakali Mitra, daughter of Dr Nandita Basu and the present house owner, is trying to preserve the building on her own, as there's no help from the government's end, which eventually results in demolition,” says Manish

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This historical address also boasts of a courtyard right in front of the Thakur Dalan, which transports one’s imagination to a time where people must have sat under the 6 o' clock sun, soaking in the pleasures of reading the early-morning newspaper as the aroma of burning puja sticks filled the house

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The entire row of well-maintained houses on Raja Basanta Roy Road enriches the present day cityscape of Kolkata with its old-world aesthetics. This also makes us ponder that any city must not lose its charm due to continuous development

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Behind Lake Market, this 100-year-old architecturally sound residence, displays smaller versions of a hanging balcony

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The address, 11, A, Kavi Bharat Sarani, stands testimonial to the change in Kolkata's cityscape. Today, one witnesses a five-storey building with multiple offices, but not so long ago there stood a house exuding old-world charm