Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Seri Negara is a 1913 colonial mansion in Kuala Lumpur's Lake Gardens, built as the official guest house of the Governor of the Straits Settlements and originally known as the King's House. It stands beside the older Carcosa mansion, completed in 1898 for Sir Frank Swettenham, the first Resident-General of the Federated Malay States, both designed under British colonial architect Arthur Benison Hubback. Seri Negara's defining moment came on 8 August 1957, when the Federation of Malaya Agreement, the legal instrument of Malaysian independence, was signed there after the Federal Constitution had been drafted on the same grounds. Carcosa was gazetted a National Heritage Building under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645) in 2011. After operating as part of the Carcosa Seri Negara luxury hotel from 1989 to 2015 and then standing largely vacant for a decade, Seri Negara reopened to the public for the first time in its history on 20 December 2025, following a 10-month Khazanah Nasional restoration, as the free-entry Galeri Seri Negara heritage museum.
Governor's Residence
1913, at completion
King's House
1913-1957
Istana Tetamu (Guest's Palace)
1957-1989
Seri Negara, as part of the Carcosa Seri Negara estate
1989-present
1913
Seri Negara was completed as the official guest house of the Governor of the Straits Settlements, known at the time as the King's House. It stood on an adjacent hill to Carcosa, the residence built in 1898 for Sir Frank Swettenham, first Resident-General of the Federated Malay States, both within the Perdana Botanical Gardens.
1955-1957
Malaysia's Federal Constitution was drafted on the grounds of Seri Negara during negotiations between British and Malayan leaders in the run-up to independence.
8 August 1957
The Federation of Malaya Agreement, the instrument formalising independence, was signed at King's House.
31 August 1957
The British High Commissioner vacated the property as Malaya achieved independence. Ownership passed to the Malayan government, and the estate reopened as Istana Tetamu, a state guesthouse for visiting dignitaries.
1986
Queen Elizabeth II visited during a state visit to Malaysia, one of several royal and diplomatic guests hosted at the estate during its guesthouse era.
1989
Carcosa and Seri Negara were converted into the Carcosa Seri Negara luxury hotel, managed by Landmark Hotels & Realty. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were its inaugural guests, staying there during that year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
2011
Carcosa was gazetted a National Heritage Building under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645).
2010-2015
Saujana Hotels & Resorts took over management in 2010, but only Seri Negara continued operating after that point. The hotel closed entirely when Saujana's lease expired on 31 December 2015.
2017-2019
The Asian Heritage Museum leased the site from April 2017, but was evicted in March 2019 when the Federal Land Commissioner reclaimed the buildings, leaving the estate vacant and deteriorating for several more years.
2025
Khazanah Nasional, through its Dana Warisan heritage fund and the wider Warisan KL restoration programme, carried out a 10-month restoration of Seri Negara, completing the work by 15 December 2025.
20 December 2025
Seri Negara reopened to the public for the first time in its history, as the free-entry Galeri Seri Negara heritage gallery, alongside Semuka Cafe and the reservation-only Serai House restaurant.
Galeri Seri Negara
A two-floor heritage gallery opened inside the restored mansion in December 2025, curated to walk visitors through Malaysia's path to independence using the building's own role in that history, entered on a 90-minute timed slot booking.
Hubback's tropical colonial design
Designed under architect Arthur Benison Hubback, who also designed Kuala Lumpur railway station, Masjid Jamek and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, the mansion uses deep verandahs, tall shuttered windows and raised floors to cool the interior in Kuala Lumpur's climate, decades before mechanical air conditioning.
Two mansions, one estate
Carcosa, completed in 1898, was built as the Resident-General's private residence. Seri Negara was added in 1913 specifically as a separate guest house, so that official visitors and royalty did not have to share the Resident-General's private quarters, which is why the two names are now paired as Carcosa Seri Negara.
The independence signing hall
The hall where the Federation of Malaya Agreement was signed on 8 August 1957 was retained through the 2025 restoration and is presented as part of the gallery's independence-era narrative.
National Heritage Building status
Carcosa was gazetted a National Heritage Building under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645) in 2011, a legal protection the government has cited in confirming the estate cannot be sold despite its long periods of vacancy.
Seri Negara was completed in 1913 as the official guest house of the Governor of the Straits Settlements, standing beside the older Carcosa mansion built in 1898 for Sir Frank Swettenham, the first Resident-General of the Federated Malay States. Both buildings were designed under British colonial architect Arthur Benison Hubback.
The building opened in 1913 as the Governor's Residence and was later known as the King's House during the colonial era. It took the name Seri Negara, meaning "Country's Glory" in Malay, once it began operating alongside Carcosa as a single estate from 1989.
Malaysia's Federal Constitution was drafted on the grounds between 1955 and 1957, and the Federation of Malaya Agreement, the legal instrument of independence, was signed at the building, then called King's House, on 8 August 1957.
Yes. Carcosa and Seri Negara were converted into a luxury hotel in 1989, first managed by Landmark Hotels & Realty and later by Saujana Hotels & Resorts from 2010. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were the hotel's inaugural guests during the 1989 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
The hotel closed when Saujana's lease expired on 31 December 2015. A brief tenancy by the Asian Heritage Museum from 2017 ended in eviction in March 2019, after which the estate stood largely vacant until Khazanah Nasional completed a restoration in December 2025.
Yes. Carcosa was gazetted a National Heritage Building under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645) in 2011, and the Malaysian government has stated the estate cannot be sold because of this protected status.
Galeri Seri Negara is the heritage museum that opened inside the restored mansion on 20 December 2025, a two-floor exhibit on Malaysia's path to independence told through the building's own history, entered by timed slot booking.
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