Talk about the world’s largest private residence and most Indians will immediately think of Antilia — industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s towering abode in Mumbai. That, however, would be incorrect. the top spot belongs to a heritage residence in Vadodara While Antilia is among the world’s largest and most luxurious private homes. The Laxmi Vilas Palace is actually the world’s largest private residence, and it dwarfs modern-day palatial residences like Antilia as well as iconic symbols like the British royal family’s Buckingham Palace.
Samarjitsinh Gaekwad is married to Radhikaraje Gaekwad, and they have two daughters – Padmajaraje and Narayaniraje. Samarjitsinh is a descendant of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, who commissioned the palace in the 1880s. The heritage home is built in the Indo-Saracenic architecture style, combining elements from Indo-Islamic and Renaissance styles. Samarjitsinh, the current maharaja of Baroda, is the only son of Ranjitsinh Pratapsinh Gaekwad and Shubhanginiraje. Radhikraje is a former journalist and a descendant of the erstwhile royal family of Wankaner State. Together, the royal couple have opened the doors of Lukshmi Vilas Palace to the public. The palace grounds host annual dance festivals and vintage car shows, while the Durbar Hall serves as a venue for music performances and the public spaces regularly host craft fairs.
The Laxmi Vilas Palace, seat of the Gaekwad royal family of Baroda, sits on a 500-acre compound that also houses a 10-hole golf course, a cricket stadium, an ancient stepwell and multiple gardens. Located in Gujarat’s Vadodara, the palace itself has over 170 rooms and three courtyards, along with an armory (shastra ghar), a badminton court, a tennis court and the royal darbar where Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in 2024. Construction was completed around 1890. It was built at a cost of 6 million rupees — a staggering amount even today, but more so back then. He married Radhikraje in 2002.
The palace complex encompasses the Gaekwad Baroda Golf Club, the Moti Bagh Cricket Stadium, the Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum building and the offices of the Baroda Cricket Association, according to Lifestyle Asia. (Also read: Step inside Maharani Radhikaraje Gaekwad’s Lukshmi Vilas Palace, the largest private residence in the world ) The Laxmi Vilas Palace is home to Maharaja Samarjitsinh Ranjitsinh Gaekwad and his family. Upon his father’s death in 2012, he was “crowned” in a traditional ceremony at Laxmi Vilas Palace. “Lukshmi Vilas Palace is ultimately for the people of India,” Radhikaraje told the Architectural Digest. “We are lucky that we get to call it home.” (Also read: Indian royal family gives tour of its massive 500-acre palace in Vadodara: Roughly 4 times the size of Buckingham Palace )
