The Istana stands on Orchard Road in Singapore, on an estate of 106 acres. It was built between 1867 and 1869 as the official residence of the Governor of the Straits Settlements, to a design by John Frederick Adolphus McNair, and Indian convict labor did much of the work. Governor Sir Harry Ord first occupied it in 1869.
The design is Palladian and adapted to the tropics, with deep verandahs, louvered windows and paneled doors for cross-ventilation. A central three-story tower rises 92 feet (28 meters), flanked by two-story wings with Ionic, Doric and Corinthian orders.
It was renamed The Istana after independence in 1965 and became a national monument on February 14, 1992. It is the office of the President and the venue for state ceremonies. The public may enter on five holidays each year, and a changing of the guard takes place on the first Sunday of each month.
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